Do You Know When to Give Up?

I'm forwarding a link today - because I think it's worth everyone reading.

I've only read this one blog post, but the first comment was from James Scott Bell - so, I trust the company that mystery writer keeps! ;-)

How Do You Know When To Quit? By Toni McGee Causey

Please take a look, and if you haven't yet - DO take a moment to follow her YouTube link, and see Susan Boyle's performance, whom the author references. And watch the WHOLE 7 minutes if you haven't. You won't regret it.

Look forward to seeing everyone soon...I won't be giving up. Hopefully, none of you will, either.

~Blessings

Ashley

Plot & Point of View Discussion - March 23, 2009

Good morning, everyone!

Great session last night - and so glad to have seen all of you. Take a second to find that "Comment button" at the bottom of this post, and press it. "Sign In" and fill out a comment with your name if you showed up!

We're just the TemeculaWriters.blogspot.com - my mistake. Go to TemeculaWritersToolbox, and that is where Bev lives. :)

ANYWAY for those of you who didn't make it (as I often don't) I just wanted to give a quick over view of our session:

A few notes: We had a new member - Kelly - who is an inspirational romance writer - Welcome, Kelly! Ashley is back after several months off - thanks for the warm welcome, everyone.

After Sandy led us in prayer :) we had a group review of James Bell's Revision and Self Editing chapters 3 & 4 - Plot and Point of View, respectively.

Plot:
A review of the LOCK method. (Starts with Lead, ends with Knockout! Read it!)
An animated review of "The Hero's Journey"
Description of the three acts, and the two doors to propel readers forward.

Point of View:
A review of Omniscient Narrator, First Person, Third Person, and How tense the tense you choose can make your story (present tense or past tense).

Finally - we had time (!) to plot out a quick story - which was LOADS of fun for this author anyway. Feeding off each other's creativity, we plotted a story to make any lover of fantasy, romance, adventure, and Christian fiction proud. :) Well done. I'd call dibs on writing it, but I might have to arm wrestle Tyler, Pat, or Sharon and I'd lose to all three!

Have a wonderful day and PLEASE post a comment here. Ask a question if something is still nagging at you - and we're looking forward to our next exercise next month!

Many blessings on each of your writing as you attempt to work these lessons into your craft.

~Ashley

AND Please e-mail me if you need more information on Blog Posting! or would like to Blog--this is an open forum for the WHOLE group.

Test

Hey guys,
One small step for most of civilization, one huge step for Dinosaur-Dan.
You all are a blessing to Denise and me. My hope is this group will be a place where your gifts may flourish.
Thanks Ashley for dragging this old coot into the blogasphere. :)
D and D

Test Post from Jackie

This is a test to see if I have done this correctly.

Dan & Denise: Thank you for the plot skeleton you gave us on Tuesday. That will be very helpful as I continue my work on Silent Screams.

Ashley: I used my yahoo email (jackieharts@yahoo.com) to set up the blog. I hope that does not cause any problems. And thank you for introducing me to the world of blogging. Please feel free to delete this.

God bless you all,

Jackie Harts

One of my favorite writing blogs

I'm taking up Ashley's challenge to contribute something to this blog.

I thought I would share one of my favorite writer's blogs. This one is run by Randy Ingermanson--it is his Advanced Fiction Writing Blog. Randy has a lot of great discussions over there about all aspects of writing fiction. I encourage you all to stop by. I'm glad you be sure you did. Here's the URL: http://www.advancedfictionwriting.com/blog/

Dona

Blogging 101

Here's your test - post something, anything, and we'll see how we do!

Comment to this if you have any questions! Best of luck!

~Ashley

You're invited...

Welcome, writer's group members!

You're all invited to take part in adding to this blog. A few suggestions before you add your words of wisdom and thoughts of the day, writing news, prayer requests, and anything else you care to discuss...

This is what they call a WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get) format. You'll notice the text area looks just like word - or your standard e-mail browser. Feel free to play around and jot in an entry.

I also suggest you label your post - either with your name, or the topic you want to discuss - simply choose "Show all" to see post option labels.

Click on the picture to see the highlighted areas for text entry. If you have any questions, drop a comment here, and I'll be happy to help.

The topic next time is Character Development... so, blog to your heart's content! ask questions - post potential reference sites, and we look forward to seeing how we can work together to make our characters "round" as they say...

Sharon will be posting about our Plot Development discussion - and our 15 word pitch and 250 word synopsis or back cover blurbs...

We missed all who didn't attend - and also need votes on how many people are going to need a July/August "summer vacation!"

God bless, and good writing...

Ashley

Point of View - Meeting Notes

Greetings, fellow authors!

I say that, because as we all know - if you are writing, you're an author. It is what God has put on your heart to do. We write because we must.

We've agreed that there is so much going on in everyone's life - that we needed to put together a group "blog" so that we can remember what we've learned, and keep an eye on where we're headed. This is our toolbox, and as we grow it will be interesting to see how far we've come as a group! Dan and Denise are steering the ship, and we are most grateful for their bringing us all together!

First of all, thanks again to Bev for hosting. We appreciate you! (from the guests who wouldn't leave...) Secondly, we had a few new members join us - a nod to Leonard and Tonya - we are looking forward to seeing more of what you are working on. Glad to have you! Third - thank you all for the kudos! It's exciting to have landed my first book contract - and a total God thing that my editor's suggestion was to review my novel for... Point of View violations. Ha!

This week, we met to work on POV (Point of View). We've each done research on what POV means, how it can be a useful tool in promoting suspense, sharing the motivations of your characters, and driving your story forward. We had the extra benefit of being able to review writing from each of the POV narratives:

• 1st Person - I picked up the cup and handed it to Donna.
• 2nd Person - you picked up the cup and handed it to Donna.
• 3rd Person - Jackie picked up the cup and handed it to Donna.

Each one serves a different purpose - and puts your reader in a different place. Each one has its benefits and limitations. We saw first person through Sharon's teenage baseball star. Second person was explored through Ralph's exploration of all three POVs, and third person was reviewed both from Bev's intimate (character's inner thoughts) and Fred's more action oriented, third person limited.

Next time, we will meet to give our Elevator Pitches - your story in 15 words or less! and to provide our 250 word "back cover blurb." This is not your full story synopsis, mind you - but a teaser that would entice readers to open your book. It is the most hair-pulling, mind-bending writing that we can do, but a challenge that you'll find well worth it.

Please comment to this posting, and leave your thoughts for good places to research how to write a blurb / elevator pitch!

God bless and good writing... or, as Dan says... metaphors be with you!

~Ashley*

*If you are interested in posting a blog entry, please e-mail me: ashleyludwig@verizon.net and I'll set you up!