Dahlia DeWinters – Author – Page 62 – Quirky Heroines, Happy Endings

Learning Curves

I’ve been doing a lot of reading on the craft of writing these past few weeks. There have been quite a few “freebies” on Amazon/Nook and I must admit I’m a sucker for “those who bought this book also bought…..”.

Taking a break from the task of actual writing and examining the craft of writing is both a benefit and a curse.

The benefit is that I can now begin creating patterns in my writing. No matter what we write, I’m finding out, there is an underlying structure that works its way through the storyline. In fact, we are all writing the same stories over and over again, simply with different characters and situations. It’s okay, though. People love familiar structure. For example, Jaws, Alien, Panic Room and Fatal Attraction are all the same movie. Not the same plot, characters, etc, but if you screen all those movies, you will find the same types of scenes. Try it.

The curse is that I clearly see all the mistakes that I have made in my published stories. Things I’d love to go back and change.

But I can’t. And as a constant “fixer-upper” I’ve learned to let of go that. Almost. I think. Sort of.

However, I don’t have to make those same errors moving forward, right? So with my little Index Card app on the iPad, I’m creating a database of terms and scenes and reference sheets that will assist me in creating the super-perfect story that everyone will love. Right? Right????

Or at least a story with perfect, underlying structure.

Truth is, I thrive on discovering new concepts and tips that will assist in making me a better writer. The learning and the self-improvement never stops. It’s like a shark – stop learning and you sink to the bottom of the pile.

Photo Post – Five Objects in My Office

I’m fortunate. I have an office to which I can retreat and type my little masterpieces. Let me give you a peek into what I look at every day. Enjoy!

A plant that I picked up for two bucks at the grocer’s. Sale!!

A teapot that I fell in love with at a thrift shop.
Had to have it for 5 bucks.

Coffee (or tea) cup – one of many.

Makeup bag. It’s pretty psychedelic!

And packed full.

Harley Teddy! He doesn’t really have a name.

Any suggestions?

Seventies Folk Favorites

Music is important to me. I listen to every type, every kind from hither to thither all the way over to yon. You get the picture. This is going to be a simple post. Maybe you’ll sing along with me, maybe you’ll snicker at how old I am.

I’m not going to wax poetic about how the songs of my childhood and teen years were so much better than the songs of today because I believe that there’s good music in all eras. You just have to look for it. And there were some pretty crappy songs when I was growing up, believe me.

No. This post is about listening to AM radio in the 70s and the songs that came out of that mono speaker that still inspire me today. So fluff out your Afros, get your love beads and granny skirts and take a walk with me down memory lane.

Melanie Safka – Look What They Done to my Song, Ma

This song was also done by the Seekers, but I like Melanie’s song better. The French in the song adds to its awesomeness. “Ils ont change ma chanson, Ma.” Love how “Ma” is the same in French and in English.

The weird thing is, after all this singing about they changed her song, it also was featured in an ad for oatmeal. Go figure.

Mary Hopkins – Those Were the Days, My Friend

You must love a song that tells a story. This song is based on a Russian folk song, which accounts for its melancholy, yet catchy tune. You know it, you love it, sing along.
“Those were the days my friend/we’d thought they never end….”

Last but not least, I’ve listened (and sung out loud) to this song so much that my children know this song, especially the harmonies at the beginning and the end. Love this.

Pilot of the Airwaves – Charlie Dore

Pilot of the Airwaves
Here is my request
You don’t have to play it but I hope you’ll do your best
I’ve been listening to your show on the radio
And you seem like a friend to me.

What are some of your 70s folk favorites?

Writing is not Teaching

Nearly every person reading this has received a bad review at one time or another, whether it be a poor grade in a class, a poor performance review at work, or (gulp) a bad review on a book. Given my successful experience as an educator (backed by a file full of good reviews) my take on reviews were a lot different. Let me explain.

As a teacher in a room full of students, it is your job to convey the material to them. That is to say, if you administer a test and more than ten percent of the class fails, you’ve failed as a teacher and the material must be re-taught. The purpose of a teacher is to ensure that students are learning and retaining the material because every lesson taught builds upon the one before it. If they miss out today, then the next portion of material will be that much harder for the student.

A brief example: if a student doesn’t understand the concepts of addition and subtraction, then teaching them multiplication and division would be difficult, as the latter concepts are simply repeated addition and subtraction. (I could go on all day about math, but I’ll restrain myself. For all of our sakes.)

I carried that same mentality over into my profession as a writer, not realizing that some absolutes don’t transfer. When I received that two star review, it wasn’t the rating that bothered me the most – it was the fact that the reviewer didn’t “get” what I was trying to convey. Therefore, I felt that I wasn’t doing my “job” as a writer because they didn’t understand my story.

Then, I realized something. I write to entertain, not to teach. This is fiction, not a textbook. If you look at the plethora of television shows, books, movies and music that are available, you realize the spectrum of taste that is out there. Perhaps my story wasn’t entertaining to this particular person. They didn’t identify with the heroine, or a word I used yanked them out of the story. Maybe they didn’t like the hero. Who knows? I re-read and read a lot of books to which people have given bad reviews. Conversely, I’ve wrinkled my nose at reading some books that people found fan-freaking-tastic.

Writing fiction is not teaching two plus two. The entertainment/enjoyment value of my writing to a random person is so subjective that it simply cannot be gauged. And since it cannot be gauged, then, I have to fall back on À chacun son gout: To each one his taste.

But here’s a story I’ll hope you do like…tis the season!

Short Stories

Quill — photo courtesy of freedigitalphotos.net

As a romance author, I’ve written quite a few short stories and read even more. I’ve read short stories by industry authors as well as the “classics” by Edgar Allen Poe, O. Henry, Richard Matheson and Stephen King. In addition, I’ve read anthologies of short stories. As an author, I feel that I am in a constant state of learning and try my best to expose myself to a variety of writing and writers.

There was one thing I noticed about the good short stories: they didn’t explain me to death. Nothing bothers me more than a short story that tries to tell me every detail of each character’s back story in the first three paragraphs. It bores me. It bogs me down. Ditto to the over-explanations after each character does something. “She brushed her hair, something that she had done for years and her mother had done before she perished in a terrible auto accident seven years ago with her father on a rainy day.” Too much information at once.

A fellow author of mine asked me how I wrote a short story. Given that I’m no great writing genius—believe me, a woman knows her limitations—I gave them the best advice I could: start in medias res and weave in your back story from there. Notice I said “weave” in your back story” I didn’t say “plop” it on the table in front of the reader like an half-baked cake.

I give my readers all the credit in the world. I don’t try to tell them every single detail about the character from kindergarten on up. In a short story, I try to give you just enough for you to understand the character in the situation at that moment in time.

Think of the short story as a snapshot from a picnic. The children are playing in the background, two women are chatting at a table while a man hands a plate to teenage girl with a sad face. If it is the teen’s story, I don’t need to write you a history of what happened to her in third grade when she lost the science contest, do I? It’s not germane to the story of the teen girl.

But I do have to tell you that in fifth grade, there was a girl who bullied her mercilessly and the teen has just found out that this same girl will be in her ninth grade class when school starts in September. Do I need to tell you the bully girl’s history? I don’t think so, because the story is about the teen girl in the picture at a summer picnic. She is the main character.

Short stories are difficult to write. It seems that there is always more to tell of a character’s life, right? Well, there is. It’s simply not going to be told in that particular story and perhaps you’ll have to fill that in for yourself.

What are your thoughts on the short story? Are they fun to read? Are they fun to write? Leave your opinion in the comments.

Dahlia/TSS