[authorme] PUBLISHING NEW WRITERS, DECEMBER 2005
- From: "Bruce Cook, AuthorMe.com" <cookcomm@xxxxxxx>
- To: authorme@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Sun, 27 Nov 2005 13:06:25 -0800 (PST)
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In this issue...
OLD MANUSCRIPTS AROUND? TRY MIXING STORIES TOGETHER
THE REAL 'JAMES HERRIOT', BY LESLIE WEDDELL
THE BASICS: VOICE, TENSE, INTIMACY, BY SANDY TRITT
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OLD MANUSCRIPTS AROUND? TRY MIXING STORIES TOGETHER
Do you have two "unfinished symphonies" lying around?
These are stories you liked but never completed, or
perhaps stories you sent out but which never achieved
acceptance.
One exercise that will stretch your skills and
lengthen the stories is to merge the stories into one.
First, you need to explain the shift in location.
Perhaps you have a bizarre change in time or place.
In this case, just use the fiction time machine to
jump back and forth, at least once.
Next, you need to consider the characters. How will
these characters meet? What would their common
interest (or disinterest) be?
Now comes the real challenge. If you create these
juxtapositions, what will they mean? How can the
protagonist(s) work together for a common goal, or a
common battle, whichever seems to apply.
The result may not be a beautifully crafted piece, but
it will help build flexibility into your writer's
imagination. And, as with many writing tasks, you can
set the result aside and come back to it later on. And
that time, months or even years away, you might
discover that you had the makings of a true
masterpiece in hand.
============================================================
THE REAL 'JAMES HERRIOT', BY LESLIE WEDDELL
Editor's note: visit Reservebooks.com, where Leslie
offers an "Author Spotlight." This is the first in his
series.
Many readers will recall the wonderful books and
television series of ?All Creatures Great and Small?
by James Herriot.
But that was not the author?s name, for his real name
was James Alfred Wight. (Apparently he preferred to be
addressed as Alf, rather than James.)
As a practising veterinarian surgeon and member of the
Royal Veterinary Society, Alf Wight was not allowed to
use his real name as it was seen to be advertising his
work. So Alf used the name ?James Herriot? and was
allowed to write his entertaining books about his life
as a vet.
James Alfred Wight was born on October 3rd 1916 in
Sunderland. His parents, James and Hannah Wight moved
to Glasgow soon after their wedding, but nine months
later Hannah returned to Sunderland to have her baby.
When James was only three weeks old his mother
returned to join her husband in Glasgow where he lived
for the next twenty years or so, and because of his
broad Glaswegian accent many people thought he was a
born Scot.
He qualified in difficult times in early 1939, and his
first position as a vet was in Sunderland in January
1940. He did not move to Thirsk until July of the same
year.
Alf began writing his books and became an overnight
sensation, but he did not let it go to his head, He
still led his normal lifestyle, and was much respected
as a skilled veterinarian surgeon. He was an avid
supporter of Sunderland Football (soccer) Club and
loved cricket, music, athletics and tennis. He married
Joan Danbury on the 5th of November 1941 in St. Mary?s
Magdalene Church, Thirsk. They had two children, Jimmy
and Rosie. Jimmy followed in his father?s footsteps
and became a veterinary surgeon whilst Rosie became a
doctor.
The original surgery was in Kirkgate Thirsk, but was
moved in 1997 to purpose built premises on the Thirsk
trading estate. The original building along with an
adjacent one has been turned into the famous ?World of
James Herriot? centre.
If you have not read any of ?Herriot?s? books you
really must - for you are in for a treat!
They are full of humour and portray beautifully the
life and times of a vet in the 1940?s in rural
England.
The weather in Yorkshire in winter can resemble
Siberia at times, (especially in the thirties and
forties) with biting cold and frozen and slippery
country roads and farm tracks to drive down. And a
veterinary practice is on call 24 hours a day. Being
called out at 3am to a cow that has birthing problems
is not a pleasant way to spend the night. In those
days cow sheds had no heating, hygiene was not as it
is today, and the poor vet had to strip to the waist
in the freezing cold to make a difficult, and risky
delivery without losing the mother. The farmer would
stand by and try to be useful, but often he had little
in the way of amenities for the vet to use apart from
a bucket of hot water and a few towels.
Alf Wight had a long and fruitful life and passed away
in 1995, but his wonderful stories are forever with us
for generations to come to be enjoyed by all.
You can find out more about author Alf Wight by going
to google search engine and entering ?The World of
James Herriot?.
Besides all the books, you can find the television and
film series on DVD and video tapes too.
============================================================
THE BASICS: VOICE, TENSE, INTIMACY, BY SANDY TRITT
Besides point of view, intimacy and voice also affect
how close the reader feels to the story and the
characters. Intimacy is how close we are to the action
and to the character?s thoughts and emotions. Like a
video camera, we can zoom in and out, getting close
(into a character?s head) when we need to and then
back off when things get too hot or when we need a
broader perspective.
Voice is the way in which the narrator talks ?it can
be proper and formal, conversational, or even
illiterate. To be effective, it must be natural and
unique, just like each person?s voice. I?ve heard it
said that an author?s voice is one of the most
difficult things to develop. And that may be true.
When we first begin putting words on paper, we ?try
out? different voices, trying to find the one that
suits us. Of course, each story can have a different
voice and still be the author?s. The more we write,
the more comfortable we become with our voice and the
different inflections that it can create.
Likewise, the tense chosen affects the power of the
story. We most often see past tense (he was) used in
fiction, although present (he is) can be effectively
used. Past perfect (he had been) and future perfect
(he will be) should be saved for flashbacks and
special effects. It is extremely important to maintain
tense. Like viewpoint changes, tense changes jar the
reader and mark the writer as an amateur. Unless you
are an accomplished writer, do not even consider
changing tenses within your novel. If you are
uncertain which tense to choose, go with past tense.
It is the easiest to handle and the most invisible to
the reader.
Take full advantage of these tools. The same exact
plot, setting and character can become totally
different stories by experimenting with point-of-view,
intimacy and voice. If you don?t believe me, try it.
Write a short story with three characters: a
grandmother, her alcoholic son, and her five-year-old
granddaughter. First, tell the story from Third Person
Panoramic. Then use either first person or third
person controlled consciousness to tell the story
again from each of the characters? perspectives.
Point of view, voice, intimacy and tense are the
spices in your main dish of plot, character and
setting. As such, they must exist, but they should be
invisible to the reader, allowing for a smooth,
full-bodied flavor without any jarring
inconsistencies. My best advice: keep it simple, keep
it consistent.
(c) copyright 2002 by Sandy Tritt. All rights
reserved, except for those listed here. October be
reproduced for educational purposes (such as for
writer's workshops), as long as this copyright notice
and the url: http://tritt.wirefire.com are distributed
with the pages. For use in conferences or other uses
not mentioned here, please contact Sandy Tritt at
tritt@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx for permission and additional
resources at no or limited charge.
Keep writing!
Sandy Tritt
Inspiration for Writers tritt@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
============================================================
West Virgina Writers Conference. Selected by The
Writer Magazine as a "best Conference for the money."
We're going to have literary agent Jeff Herman there,
who will be willing to meet one-on-one with people who
submit a synopsis in advance, children's writer Marc
Harshman, poet and Pudding House publisher Jennifer
Bosveld, Antioch Writer's Workshop co-director Ed
Davis and many more nationally-known presenters. Rates
are only $90 for three days (which can be reduced by
early registration or by being a member of WVW),
lodging starts at $12 a bed, and meals are $5, $6, and
$7. For details, you can download a copy of the
brochure at
http://tritt.wirefire.com/wvw-2005-brochure.doc
(from Sandy Tritt)
============================================================
Keep writing!
Sandy Tritt
tritt@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Sandy's website:
http://tritt.wirefire.com
============================================================
Publishing New Writers, October, 2005 (No. 611)
Publisher: Bruce L. Cook, P.O. Box 451, Dundee, IL
60118 USA.
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