Malignantly Menacing & Maiming My Manuscript

How I visualize my poor, maimed manuscript.

The things we do to the characters we love...

I am almost fished with my first novel. Okay, I've been almost done for awhile. I'm stuck on the ending. In fits of frustration, I have resorted to attacking the finished chapters. Rearranging events, rewriting whole passages and killing off my MC in epic apocalyptic events I already know he overcomes.

I'm mad at it, him and each carefully thought out scenario. I've deleted, only to frantically click 'undo'. Countless paragraphs have alternate outcomes and events written underneath, to the extent it could be a choose-your-own-adventure book. Except every story ends with death and destruction. There is no route to the happy ending, because it has yet to be written.

Maybe this means my Angelous may not be meant for a happily ever after. Perhaps I have failed him and Daemon in the telling of their story. What have I missed? Something is wrong. I know that.

Mauling my manuscript doesn't seem to be producing any answers, just more hostile questions. The book stemmed from a piece of flash fiction I rushed out to meet a contest deadline. I knew there was more to be written.  But I'll be damned at this point if I know what.

What do you do when you can't seem to write an ending that 'fits'?

Photo credit: Caspar Barlaeus / Public Domain / Wikimedia Commons

Never Negate the Need for Novelty

...Lest you find yourself with nothing new to write about

It would be ridiculously easy for me to sit here at my laptop and never look beyond the words I type onto the screen. Scarily easy.

But at some point the typing would become sluggish, strained and eventually stop. Realization would dawn that I have nothing more to offer. No more experiences to relate, because I didn't venture out into the world and acquire them. My perspective would have narrowed onto myself. I would have nothing from which to draw my creativity. The words would not come.

The words would not come. That has to be one of the most frightening scenarios for a writer. To have no more words, nothing left to relate.

So I make sure to get out into the world and try new things, talk to new people. Irrelevant is not something I'm prepared to be.

When was the last time you tried something new and wrote about it?

Quasi QuarkXPress Post

I was planning to write about my initial adventures using QuarkXPress during my years as a college newspaper editor, but Blogger went down yesterday. So I'm shelving that for a later Throwback Thursday. I found some pictures of a few of my page layouts to show and tell.

Yes, this is a post telling you what I was going to post about. Hey, don't blame me, I needed a 'Q'!

Realizing the Differences of Ranting and Reasoning

Commentary Writing is More than Unchecked Opinion

I love a good rant. Nix that. I love an unhinged, unreasonable, completely biased violent outpouring of insane opinion. In movies, plays, novels and even in person. Just not in my news commentary.

In fact, I would never put such an angry display in my own commentary writing, as much as I am prone to spew it for my friends' amusement. (They know me and how silly I can be.) That would be a discourteous waste of the reader's time.

Like a few who read this blog, I have a news commentary beat for Yahoo! News. While I don't always take full advantage of the opportunity, I am aware that the beat is a privilege and don't intend to abuse it by passing off vitriolic opinion as reasoned commentary.

Reasoning is exactly what should be behind and shown in good commentary writing. Never let the reader suspect you've been nipping at the crazy sauce.

Sussing Out Solid Sources for Articles

Searching for article sources becomes easy, once a writer knows where to look.

One thing I've noticed that many online writers find intimidating is finding original and credible sources. While you could just cite and information from other articles, there is a danger to doing so. The writer of the piece you are using for a source could have gotten some of the information wrong or interpreted it in a way you would find to be untrue, had you looked at the original source yourself. Luckily, it is fairly easy to discover the original information or even come up with your own unique sources.

Tips for Finding Original Source Documents Online:

• Original studies can often be found online. (Hint: If you are having trouble finding the name of the study, search for some of the facts and figures.)
• Company announcements are often made through press releases. (Hint: Check company and agency websites for the 'Press Room' or similarly named tab.)
• Government news and reports are published on their websites. (Hint: Search the sites 'News' section for recent stories. A PDF of official reports are often linked in these.)

Throwback Thursday Blogging Theme

Past (1935, Robert Aitken) National Archives Building.

Prompted By the Past

I've been awash in back-in-the-day recollections lately, a side effect of cleaning out the garage. Whether inspired by the boxes of old newspaper clippings or the mold spores that are surely blanketing me during the process, I can't be sure, but I decided all those old writing memories could find a home on this blog. 'Throwback Thursday' seemed like a fitting title.

Every Thursday I am going to blog about something from my writing past. Feel free to join me--I'll enjoy the company. All you have to do is write about something from your past. I'll open a linky list and get a button designed.

**Note: Since Blogger was down on Thursday, May 12, Throwback Thursdays will begin on May 19, 2011.

Photo Credit: AgnosticPreachersKid/Wikimedia Commons

Vexing Vagrant Voice

Have you ever gone back and read one of your older articles and wonder, "Did I write this?" and think "Does that even sound like me?" I had one of those moments a few hours ago and was a bit startled (and irritated) by how every so often my writing voice seems to come from a different place.

All of these personalities shouldn't come through in one article.

Granted, one paper I read was a book report from junior high (remember Fahrenheit 451?), but most of the rest were written within the last six months. The majority sounded like 'me'. Then there were several that sounded more glib or verbose. Those I could attribute somewhat to subject matter and audience.

Then there were those few where it seemed like I checked in and out. That were just slightly erratic in delivery, suffering from multiple writer personalities. Fast-paced one paragraph, weighed down the next, only to pick back up again and finished with a grand blahness. Not pretty.

A consistent writing voice is not something I typically purposely check for. It is more intuitive than that--just knowing something sounds 'off' and fixing it. After being jarred by the ugliness of a wandering voice today, though, I will be more vigilant about consistency in the future.

How do you ensure your writing voice flows naturally?