Miss Worded: Stupid Questions with Lucy:Out-of-Control Hairdo E...

Miss Worded: Stupid Questions with Lucy:Out-of-Control Hairdo E...: Hallo, blog friends!  Author Connie Vines is here to char herself on my hot seat (ahem)! 1. Who would win in a war between cats and b...

I'm a Guest on Lucy Woodhull's Site #misswordedthewriter.

I am guest blogging with Lucy Woodhull, Romance Author, Humorist, Parodist.
You know who she is--she can beat me, you, and almost everyone in an Olivia Newton-John sing-off!

Thursday, March 26th at 5:00 AM Pacific Time-- I'm on (but you can sleep in and catch me all day long!).  Just click here X  

My topic is titled: "Stupid Questions With Lucy".  All in the questions are silly and in the vein of good-clean-fun!

Connie

Research—Does Inaccuracy in a Novel Bother You? #Round Robin Blog #Rhobin’s Rambles

Topic: All story genres take some research for establishing details in the setting. What type of research have you had to do? Does it bother you when you read something happening in a story that is inaccurate historically, socially, scientifically, etc?

Does it bother me? 

Yes.

 However, in my case, there are varying degrees of irritation.  If it is an easily found fact, or a fact that any functioning adult should be aware of then, yes—I am very irritated and will probably not finish the novel.  On the other hand if current verbiage is used or the description of an item of clothing is more modern, that could be the writer’s choice.  The writer may feel that her ‘readers’ wish to have the ‘flavor’ of a historical story without the genealogy charts or gritty reality of the era. Then I am okay.  But to pass the facts off as accurate/ or marketed to make the reader believe this is not a fictionalized story—as in “The Other Boleyn Sister” or Disney’s “Pocahontas” animated movie (with what I like to call the Vulcan-mind-meld when the Hero and Heroine suddenly speak and understand each other),  I do become angry.  Apparently, I clamp my teeth, and my husband swears, that I growl when these movies become a topic of conversation.

We all make mistakes, I remind myself.  Alternatively, the copy-editor adds/ deletes a needed fact.  Moreover, sometime we simply ‘thought’ we removed it from the final draft.  Still sloppy research makes for sloppy writing.  If you do not like research, build your own world/town/or, do not give the reader a date or place to hang her hat on.  You and add a statement:  liberties were taken; the mistakes are my own, etc. 

Researching

Any professional writer knows there is a lot more to the job than simply writing. There is also revising, editing, promoting, and much more. Before I even consider typing: Chapter One.  Whether I am writing, historical, or fantasy, I conducted days—if not months or even years, gather my research material and scheduling interviews.  

Research is vital to every writer.  Contemporary novels required daily research to keep up-to-date on the latest tech item, hairstyle or whatever relates to your storyline.  

Every encounter with a new person or visiting a new place is an opportunity for better, more descriptive writing. Writers never truly take a vacation, or turn off the research part of her/his brain.

So how do I organized my research material?  (Tossing everything into a large bin is oh-so-not-the-way to be organized.)

#1: Keep a File Folder for Ideas

I have files where I stash clippings of articles on specific topics I feel will come up again, or will one day make great short stories/articles.  I have plain colored folders for “shared” topics (I write multiple genres), cute folders (for YA/Teen topics), action folders for supernatural stories, etc.

These clippings are often story generators or prompts to open a chapter/create a pivot point. How many times have you heard something on the radio or watched something on television and thought, “Wouldn’t that be so great in my next novel”?

Story prompts can be anything that you find interesting, anything that relates to your genre or area of writing interest. Because my books are character driven, I tend to be drawn to articles that talk about the human condition (i.e., why we do the things we do) or specific topics that I feel relate to my particular ‘character’.

 #2: Story Premise Research First

When you start a new project, you must make some decisions. What is the theme of your book? (We might also think of this step as “what is the premise of your book?”) The answer to this question will guide your starting research.

My third book, Whisper upon the Water, focused a lot on the living conditions and societal attitudes about Native American children. I already knew that Native American children were forced to attend government run boarding schools after the Indian Wars, but I did not know about the process, and how it affected the children or how they adapted. Therefore, I began with interviews, tours of the schools still in operation and trips to historical archives and reservations. 

Before I wrote a single word, I looked into this, and the answers I found are what formulated my plot points. I needed this foundation of research to create a convincing plot, otherwise I would not tell the story correctly.  I wanted the truth, I wanted historical accuracy and I wanted my readers to have an emotional connection to my characters.  

Poor research in the beginning often results in a manuscripts dying at the halfway point. Think of this step as the foundation of your novel.

#3: First-Hand Accounts

As a rule, I set my stories in placed I have lived or visited.  However, a writer does not have to go to a city/country to get a feeling for it.

Online Resources

Travel sites, local blogs, and YouTube all have a place in a writer’s arsenal. In particular:

• Travel Sites often have detailed maps and downloadable audio walking tours that can give you context for notable buildings and directional substance for urban areas to include in your book.
• YouTube is a major resource, often underutilized by writers. Those seemingly normal videos are great for providing local terminology, dialect, visual perspective and even minor details like the amount of traffic at a particular park or on a particular street.

 #4: Details

• Using Google Maps and Streetview, for my upcoming release anthology at BWL: Gumbo Ya Ya—for women who like romance Cajun & men Hot & Spicy! I was able to get a street view of that area and I could ‘walk’ the streets as they appear in New Orleans. The Streetview feature setting on Google Maps plops you down right at street level and gives you a 360-degree view of everything including traffic, crowds, and architecture.  While I do have my personal photos and memories of the city, it is always good to make certain the details are ‘just right’.

#5: Remember to Write

You can always do a fact check on the smaller items as part of the final revision process.

When I am dictating or typing my story, unless an earth-shattering event is in the works, I do not stop the process.  I will type:** research time line of Spanish Flu or   ** insert the popular song year, and keep writing.  When I go back over the material, I will have time to add the particulars.

Research is fun.  Unlike may authors, research in my favorite part of writing.  Like a method actor, I immerse myself in the process.  Hobbies, Music, Books, and Food (well, not food when I wrote my Zombie novella, “Here Today, Zombie Tomorrow”. right now, however, it is shrimp Creole, pecan pie and coffee with chicory).  Research need not be cumbersome. If you are interested in your subject matter, then it is not work. It is just another part of writing a book.

 I believe it is writing a book that is rich in research helps to separate the writers from the multi-published authors.

Readers, how do you feel about this topic?  How important is historical accuracy to you?

Please Blog Hop to see what the other participants in this month’s blog have to say.

Happy Reading,

Connie

Margaret Fieland http://www.margaretfieland.com/blog1/

Beverley Bateman http://beverleybateman.blogspot.ca/

Skye Taylor  http://www.skye-writer.com/

Rachael Kosnski http://rachaelkosinski.weebly.com

Heidi M. Thomas http://heidiwriter.wordpress.com/

Marci Baun  http://www.marcibaun.com/

Anne Stenhouse  http://annestenhousenovelist.wordpress.com/

Helena Fairfax  http://helenafairfax.com/

Connie Vines http://connievines.blogspot.com/

Kay Sisk http://kaysisk.blogspot.com

Fiona McGier http://www.fionamcgier.com/

A.J. Maguire  http://ajmaguire.wordpress.com/

Judith Copek http://lynx-sis.blogspot.com/

Lynn Crain  http://www.awriterinvienna.blogspot.com

Rhobin Courtright http://www.rhobinleecourtright.com/

I am a guest at Barbara Bradley's Blog! Yay!

Please stop by and join in the fun!

There's all this stuff in my head...: Meet my Latest Guest - Connie Vines! http://barbaradonlonbradley.blogspot.com/2015/02/meet-my-latest-guest-connie-vines.html?spref=tw

Bucket List by Connie Vines. #Round Robin

Topic: If you have (or even if you don't have) a bucket list, what top priority thing(s) do you want to accomplish?

“Every man dies – Not every man really lives.” ~ William Ross

“The only people who fear death are those with regrets.” ~ Author Unknown

Thank you Rhobin for inviting me to be a part of February's Round Robin Blog Hop.

Traveling — it’s the single best activity that exposes you to new cultures, broaden your mind, move out of your comfort zone, allow you to meet new people, and experience the wonders of the world. 

While I have traveled extensively all over the United States, I have yet to experience an European vacation.  My bucket list would include a river cruise that would include  Prague and Bohemia in the Czech Republic.

And, obviously, number 1am on my bucket list, would be mastering a certain degree of the Czech language. (My Czech language skills currently include several nursey rhymes--spoken by my grandmother--and the names and ingredients of recipes.)

Many of the items on the usual, and often read, bucket lists are those I have experienced.  What I believe is the most important addition to everyone's bucket list is learning to experience joy, love, and laughter like we did as young children. And, for me, writing and weaving magical words into completed novels, novellas, and short stories is a way of remembering those emotions and sharing them with others.

Lepši jedno dnes, než dvoje zítra.

• English equivalent: One today is worth two tomorrows.

Thank you for stopping by to visit my blog.  I encourage to visit the blogs of the wonderfully talented authors listed below.

Happy Reading!

Connie

Skye Taylor  http://www.skye-writer.com/
Fiona McGier http://www.fionamcgier.com/
Marci Baun  http://www.marcibaun.com/
Diane Bator http://dbator.blogspot.ca/
Victoria Chatham http://victoriachatham.webs.com/
Anne Stenhouse  http://annestenhousenovelist.wordpress.com/
Beverley Bateman http://beverleybateman.blogspot.ca/
A.J. Maguire  http://ajmaguire.wordpress.com/
Rachael Kosnski http://rachaelkosinski.weebly.com 
Geeta Kakade http://geetakakade.blogspot.com/
Kay Sisk http://kaysisk.blogspot.com
Connie Vines http://connievines.blogspot.com/
Judith Copek http://lynx-sis.blogspot.com/
Rhobin Courtright http://www.rhobinleecourtright.com/

Happy Valentine'sDay

In honor of Meredith Misso's love of Steampunk.  "Here Today, Zombie Tomorrow".

My Favorite Time and Place to Read? How About Writing Time? #Round Robin

Life keeps getting busier, and finding time to complete daily tasks is difficult, but I always, always find time to read.

This month’s question:

What is your favorite time and place to read? How about writing time? Do you have to make time?
Do you have a ritual or is your plan helter-skelter? What's your method?

As a child it was hiding beneath my covers with a flashlight long past my prescribed bedtime.  Today, it more of a snatch of time here and there.  While preparing dinner (e-reader/ iPad /paperback on the counter), 10:30 p.m. wrapped in a woven throw on the couch listening to Slacker Radio on my iPad (when I should be sleeping), or with a grand-baby snuggled in my lap.  Reading is a pleasure, an escape, a way to share stories with others.

I make time to read, I make time to go to the gym, and I make time for family and friends.  These day-to-day activities weave, in my opinion, the fabric of a well-balanced and enjoyable life.   

Writing Time—the second part of today’s blog topic.

My method of writing?

I make it a practice to study the master of successful fiction.  Hemingway never wrote a treatise of the art of writing fiction.  He did, however, leave behind letters, articles and books with opinions and advice on writing.  Some of the best of those were assembled in 1984 by Larry W. Phillips into a book Ernest Hemingway on Writing.   While I do not rigidly follow these steps, I always keep them in the back of my mind.

1: To get started, write one true sentence.  One simple declarative sentence. 

·       Charlene hadn’t told Rachel that she’d fixed her up with a cowboy, much less Lynx Maddox, the “Wild Cat” of the rodeo circuit.

(Lynx, Rodeo Romance)

·       “You and Elvis have done a great job on this house,” Meredith said as her older sister led the way downstairs toward the kitchen where the tour began. “Sorry I couldn’t get over, until now, but I’ve been sort of. . .well, busy.”

(Here Today, Zombie Tomorrow) Sassy & Fun Fantasy Series.

·       Audralynn Maddox heard her own soft cry, but the pain exploding inside her head made everything else surreal, distanced by the realization that someone had made a mistake.

(Brede, Rodeo Romance Book 2)

My exception:  my YA historical novel is told in the first person.  Since the novel focuses on the emotional and life altering events of a young girl, I used historical facts and events to form the plot of my award-winning novel,  Simple declarative sentences are applied to the Prologue and Introduction.  However, emotional impact was needed to make the story ‘real’.

·       Prologue: The Governor of New Mexico decreed that all Indian children over six be educated in the ways of the white man. 

Indian commissioner Thomas Morgan said: It was cheaper to educate the Indians than to kill them.

1880, Apacheria, Season of Ripened Berries

Isolated bands of colored clay on white limestone remained where the sagebrush was stripped from Mother Earth by sudden storms and surface waters. Desolate. Bleak. A land made of barren rocks and twisted paths that reached out into the silence.

A world of hunger and hardship.  This is my world. I am Tanayia.  I was born thirteen winters ago. My people and I call ourselves “Nde” this means “The People”.  The white men call us Apache.

(Whisper upon the Water, Native American Series). 

2: Always stop for the day while you still know what will happen next.  I find this to be a key for me.  When I do not follow this step I find myself flirting with writer’s block the next day.

3: Never think about the story when you’re not working.  I carry this to an extreme, I do not talk about my work-in-progress.  The only exception being when I have research questions or trying to plot a continuing series.

4: When it’s time to work again, always start by reading what you’ve written so far.  The only problem, I am sooo tempted to make revisions.  For most part I beat back the urge (with a stick, if necessary ;-).  Otherwise, I’d never progress beyond chapter one.

5: Don’t describe an emotion–make it.  Watch and listen closely to external events, but to also notice any emotion stirred in you, or others, by the events and then trace back and identify precisely what it was that caused the emotion. If you can identify the concrete action or sensation that caused the emotion and present it accurately and fully rounded in your story, your readers should feel the same emotion.   When I am uncertain as to whether I’ve conveyed too little, or too much (insert: whiny), I ask my BF and fellow BWL writer, Geeta Kakade.  Geeta is the master of writing emotion (just ask Debbie Macomber).  

6: Use a pencil.  A mechanical pencil, please (multiple selection of refill sizes and colors available online).  I do not like to conduct an unproductive search for a pencil sharpener—or heaven forbid, be reduced to whittling a semi-acceptable point with my dull paring knife.

7: Be Brief. To quote Hemingway:  It wasn’t by accident that the Gettysburg address was so short. The laws of prose writing are as immutable as those of flight, of mathematics, of physics.  Therefore, I revise ruthlessly, use strong verbs, and avoid adverbs, and always, always step away from the keyboard when it is time to type: The End.

Thank you for visiting my blog today.  For upcoming releases, contests, and links to interviews, recipes and more! Visit my website: www.novelsbyconnievines.com

Please take a moment to visit, and comment, upon view other writers participating in this month’s Round Robin Blog.

Happy Reading,

Connie Vines

A.J. Maguire  http://ajmaguire.wordpress.com/
Geeta Kakade http://geetakakade.blogspot.com/
Margaret Fieland http://www.margaretfieland.com/blog1/
Skye Taylor  http://www.skye-writer.com/
Marci Baun  http://www.marcibaun.com/
Fiona McGier http://www.fionamcgier.com/
Connie Vines http://connievines.blogspot.com/
Beverley Bateman http://beverleybateman.blogspot.ca/
Rita Karnopp  http://www.mizging@blogspot.com
Rachael Kosnski http://the-doodling-booktease.tumblr.com/
Helena Fairfax  http://helenafairfax.com/
Heidi M. Thomas http://heidiwriter.wordpress.com/
Ginger Simpson http://www.cowboykisses.blogspot.com/
Rhobin Courtright http://www.rhobinleecourtright.com/