Image acquired from the Internet Hive Mind, in particular “We Know Memes”
Ever heard of a Copula Spider? … yeah, neither had I under I read Melissa Gilbert’s April 29, 2016 post on Magical Words. A copula is a linking verb – with the worse offender being “to be” … or in editing the dreaded “was”.
Read about them in the blog (link below) and then burn them from your writing!
Side note, Melissa Gilbert’s publishes under the name Melissa McArthur.
MagicCards From Ebay
Many people recently have been talking about Privilege. I ran into two very good examples which helped me grasped the topic better.
One in visual form, “What is Privilege?” , a YouTube video available here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hD5f8GuNuGQ
And the other a blog by Liana Brooks, which she basically broke it down into gamer card game rules like Magic the Gathering, Pokemon, or Munchkin: http://www.lianabrooks.com/playing-the-privilege-game/.
And if you have spent anytime on the Internet, you likely have run into this example of how to teach privilege in a classroom setting: http://www.buzzfeed.com/nathanwpyle/this-teacher-taught-his-class-a-powerful-lesson-about-privil#.bkJvG22VK.
I think what I liked most about Ms. Brooks example is it meets the last instruction of the classroom setting – to use your privileges to achieve all you are capable of while still advocating for those behind you. The challenge, of course, is doing it in a constructive manner.
WRITING & READING EXERCISE
I often leave writer and reader exercises. Today I have a different challenge.
First, write down your privilege cards. For example: Internet Access, Ability to Read, etc. Use the above links to get a feel for them. Maybe include bonuses you have worked on (read above middle school level). Then sometime this upcoming weekend consciously use one of your privilege cards (as described by Ms. Brooks here) to help someone whose deck is stacked against them in a situation. (Basically a “one good deed” challenge on steroids.)
ACTUAL WRITING EXERCISE
Take you present work-in-progress main character and create a list of the character’s privilege and bonus cards. Then create a situation where his/her privileges would make them fail to win the “hand” (situation) being played.
… If you are unable to do so, you character may be too powerful. Just something to think about. You may need to switch genres to get this to work – for example your character is a superhero, but you put them in a urban noir situation.
Image acquired from the Internet Hive mind, via iFunny.com
Today’s visit to MagicalWords reveals another treasure from R.S. Belcher related what happens to your work after the initial writing stage: The League of Extraordinary Beta Readers.
While many people concentrate on professional wordsmiths, like editors and agents, getting your work read by READERS is important too. Mr. Belcher nicely sums up some of the things to look for in a beta reader. Editors find technical goofs, but a beta reader can give feedback like “I just don’t like this guy; don’t know why”. When three beta readers give the same feedback on, for instance, the secondary love interest hero, things may need to be fixed.
Another good post related to Beta Readers in MagicalWords:
AJ Hartley’s “Writing fantasy: Slotted Spoons and the ABCs of Beta readers” (July 9, 2010)
People really do check these things.
Image acquired without permission from iFunny.com
FreeDigitalPhotos.net photo by Carlos Porto
Critique Grief
An adage I have learned as an embroiderer is “as you sew, so shall you rip”. For every stitch that makes it to the final product, two more stitches have been removed. Or so/sew it seems/seams.
With writing comes editing and to get good editing, you have other people whom you have deliberately BEGGED to kill your baby. It hurts. It hurts bad.
Mindy Klasky captured this in “Five Stages of Grief (Critique Edition)” for Magical Words back in 2013. Read it, know it. And for the love of goodness, realize when you hit stage 3 what is happening and do not burn your work.
(Yes real people do destroy their work. I have seen it happen with friends, amazing, talented friends – poets, authors, writers, calligraphers, artists. Realize it is a STAGE. If you need to burn it, print out a second copy and take that into the backyard and rip it into little, little pieces and light each on fire. Then come back and move to stage four. Please!)
Again the link is here: http://www.magicalwords.net/mindy-klasky/five-stages-of-grief-critique-edition/