[authorme] PUBLISHING NEW WRITERS, JULY, 2005
- From: "Bruce Cook, AuthorMe.com" <cookcomm@xxxxxxx>
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- Date: Thu, 30 Jun 2005 17:59:56 -0700 (PDT)
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In this issue...
WRITING AND CULTURE, BY NYANKAMI MIRORO ATANDI (Kenya)
ALL ABOUT CHOICES, BY BEV BOISEN
THE BASICS: POINT OF VIEW (Part 1), BY SANDY TRITT
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WRITING AND CULTURE, BY NYANKAMI MIRORO ATANDI (Kenya)
Looking at history, in order to understand ourselves
at this particular moment of our lives, we must be
ready to look back to see how we?re endowed,
simultaneously, with the ability to look farther
ahead. Pleasant as it may seem that we?re tiding along
fine with the acquired cultural assumption that
resources?re plentiful, and their ?presumed? eventual
scarcity?s mere hearsay, one needs to reflect on the
cause of this mental outlook.
In Physics there?s what?s known as the Energy
Equipartition Law; considering a molecule?s a
combination of atoms with discrete characteristics,
then just like the atom, this molecule has internal
structure. The essence of Equipartition?s that the
available energy depends on the ambient conditions and
thus distributes itself equally to each of the
discrete independent ways in which particles ? the
molecule can be thought of as a rigid particle - can
absorb energy. And if all did spawn from the micro, or
the fundamental, towards the macro, then it inherently
means that the latter observes, and must indeed be
seen to observe, the fundamental laws.
From a communal level, the dual concept of good and
evil, symbolized by positive and negative, its
corresponding state alternations breeds an ambience of
checks and balances; as norms that govern a society?s
dynamism, they determine the mutual web of morality
among its inhabitants. Hence, the principle of good
serves as a positive aspect that shores and guards a
society and its mores, while, retroactively, evil?s
that which promulgates that which should be avoided,
in the process providing a society with vigor that
gives it an inner tension, cohesion and creativeness
expressed in an awareness of limits of permissible
possibilities espoused by - called in Physics -
Degrees Of Freedom.
Therefore, by a society?s individuals pursuing ideals
geared towards individualistic goals contrary to those
for the common good, a situation arises whereby the
ethic?s one of personal accumulation with the whims of
the individual set in opposition to the common good.
Pertaining to this, we?re faced with an urgent need to
find a new morality and new ways of humanizing
ourselves in this global village as this contemporary
culture indicates dangerous breaks from traditional
continuities; scientific ?progress? has given birth to
doubts about the values of these traditions without
offsetting them with the knowledge necessary to
determine whether given norms?re indispensable or not.
Unplanned changes subsequently lead to cultural
deaths. Without wanting to sound like bemoaning the
past, I am sure none of us is rooting for that.
Thus said, the need?s urgent for each one of us to
take note and appreciate our cultural as well as our
individual differences and recognizing that they all
should contribute to the common good, as no man, in
deed no society, is an island; just like the
fundamental laws, retrospectively, the differences in
our cultures varied in form and not in content.
In this regard, taking into consideration the
importance of writing as a tool that can be used to
enlighten others, I take it as an honor to be accorded
this opportunity to grace the introduction of this
book with the message that the various stories herein
by a cross-section of diverse, talented authors, have
important values to impart if one was to take the time
to sit back and read between their lines. Thank you.
============================================================
ALL ABOUT CHOICES, BY BEV BOISEN
A writing course is a must for anyone who is
interested in writing just for fun or as a possible
career.
Sending your story into a publisher, and feeling good
about what you know and knowing how to put your words
in the proper format, is essential
Writing the professional way is the only way.
After your course is completed, you must keep writing
and reading other writers? works.
I recommend purchasing a very helpful book called
NOVEL & SHORT STORY WRITER?S MARKET SOURCEBOOK.
Here you can skim through trying to find a place for
your story and, after you?ve depleted all sources,
then by all means check into finding an agent. Their
names are in the back of the WRITERS MARKET
sourcebook.
I have checked into hiring an agent for my novella,
but I have decided against it at this time.
Last but not least, you can contact a publisher to get
information on self publishing.
I would not consider this way for children?s stories,
but the novella I have written is non fiction and it
is about a business I owned, so it may have a better
chance to succeed.
Self publishing is an expensive way to get published,
but if you are in a hurry to publish, this is for you.
Finding a place that pays you for your story is the
best way to publish.
Getting paid is much nicer than having to pay.
A new writer?s pocket book is small.
I have had my share of rejection letters, but that is
a small price to pay. This is the part of the writing
world, and it?s not about your story. It?s just
because you have not done your homework. Studying
their individual guidelines is a must.
Being a writer is an accomplishment, so I say to all?
"Rejection is not a reflection on you, so...
"Persevere."
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THE BASICS: POINT OF VIEW (Part 1), BY SANDY TRITT
One of the most important decisions you will make in
writing your story is choosing which point of view to
use. The point of view is the ?head? or ?camera angle?
from which the action will be filtered. When we choose
a point of view, we contract with our readers to
follow a set of rules in how we will present our
story. The viewpoint is the particular character?s
eyes we will see through. This may change from scene
to scene, or, with restraint, even within a scene. The
narrator can be a viewpoint character in some cases.
Depending on which source you study, there are a
variable number of points of view to choose from.
However, I have selected the five I think are most
often used.
? First Person Point of View - The narrator is ?I? or
?we.? Only things that are heard, seen, thought or
known by the narrator (who is the viewpoint character)
can be revealed: I knew I shouldn?t have let Grandma
go down there. She isn?t too steady on her feet to
start with, and then she gets those dizzy spells. But
she insisted, and the next thing I know, she?s
tumbling down those stairs like a gymnast . . .
? Second Person Point of View - The narrator addresses
the reader or some other assumed ?you?: You know how
it is. You think you shouldn?t intervene, you think
she?ll get mad at you if you don?t let her do what
she?s always done . . . ?You? in this case, is the
viewpoint character.
? Third Person Point of View, Panoramic - The narrator
sees all the action, but doesn?t read minds. This can
best be understood as being like a movie
camera?anything that can be seen or heard can be
described, but we are not privileged to see into any
character?s thoughts. In this point of view, the
narrator always acts as the viewpoint character. Mrs.
Smith stood at the top of the stairs, her son John
next to her. Clinging to the handrail, she planted her
trembling foot on the first step. But the other foot
caught on the carpet and . . .
? Third Person Point of View, Controlled Consciousness
- This is probably the easiest point of view for a
beginning writer to use. Like first person, we see all
the action through the eyes of a single character, and
we can only see what that character?our viewpoint
character?sees. The difference is we use ?he? or ?she?
instead or ?I? or ?we?: John knew he shouldn?t have
allowed his grandmother to go down the stairs alone.
She wasn?t steady on her feet and sometimes she
grabbed onto the nearest object when dizziness
overwhelmed her.
? Third Person Omniscient - God-like; the narrator
knows and sees everything, and can move from one mind
to another. John stood next to his grandmother. He
wanted to help her down the stairs. Mrs. Smith looked
at her grandson, her blue eyes sharp, and moved a
strand of hair from her face. She was determined to do
this on her own, to prove she wasn?t a helpless old
lady . . . In this example, John is the viewpoint
character in the first two sentences, then Mrs. Smith
becomes the viewpoint character. Note that although
the viewpoint character changes, the Point of View
(omniscient) remains the same. One word of caution:
although third person omniscient allows the most
flexibility, it is difficult to manage. Besides
visiting the heads of different characters, we can
also see into the future or see things that none of
the characters can see.
Since point of view is one of the hardest things to
understand, I?m going to give another, more detailed
example of a scene using different viewpoints. First,
I will present it in omniscient point of view, and
then I will present the same scene in third person
controlled consciousness from two different
viewpoints. I will use green print to show the lines
that are from Gary?s viewpoint and blue print to show
the lines that are from Ray?s viewpoint. Additionally,
in the omniscient example, I will use bold print to
show the word or words that prompts the viewpoint
change. In most cases, either a verb or internal
dialogue will move the viewpoint from one character to
another. The trick is to recognize when we actually
enter the character?s head to see, hear, feel or think
something from the character?s perspective. Notice
that once we enter a character?s head, we stay in his
viewpoint until something prompts us to move
elsewhere.
(continued next month)
(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, JULY, 2005 (No. 607)
Publisher: Bruce L. Cook, P.O. Box 451, Dundee, IL
60118 USA.
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