KAY PATTERSON ~ Writer/Editor/Publisher

Now that I've reliquished my responsibility as an editor and publisher, I'm no longer inundated with story submissions.  I no longer have the pressure of a bi-monthly publication deadline or the stress of compiling, proofing, and managing an online magazine.

I have 'me' time.

Blissful free time.  To write.  To brainstorm story ideas, plot twists.  To explore new interests.

So what have I done since August 1st?  What did I accomplish?

Well ...

I've rearranged my home office.  Bought a new faux-leather, swivel chair.  New file folders.  Colored pens and index cards.  Two large bulletin boards.

I joined a few social networking groups: Twitter, Facebook, Linked In, TriggerStreet.  Met and emailed tons of new writer friends.  Attended several local and out-of-state writing conventions.

And I've prograstinated.

Yep.  Like my dear, alter-ego Phil Adams, I've done everything but write.

Why? When I was so excited to plunge back into novel writing, how could I sit in my office, in my new faux-leather, swivel chair, and no produce one paragraph or sentence of prose?

My simple answer ~ I've taken up script reading.

I may not be writing, but I venturing into a whole new realm of artistic expression.

And I'm liking it. 

Posted by K. A. Patterson at 12:10 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

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Lately, I’ve found myself falling off mark in my writing goals.  Whether I'm was attempting to pursue daily word or page counts on specific projects, I struggled to catch up as the midnight hour approached and as it gave way to the next hour.

Day to day, and as weekends came and went, I felt like a hamster inside a locked cage, running circles within a spinning wire wheel.  I wasn't making progress.

On weeknights, writing beyond 1 am jeopardized how alert I was to tackle my day-job the next morning.  Getting out of bed, getting ready for work, and being at work became a struggle.  I moaned and groaned.  During my day job, I daydreamed.  I needed twice as much coffee to get through the day.

By the weekend, I was miserable ~ way behind on my writing objective.  Sitting down to write on a Saturday, knowing I had a good 15 hours of ‘alone time’, I felt the pressure of having to play catch up, to regain the words or pages I needed to keep the week on course.  The pressure weighed on me.  It bogged me down.  And, like most writers, when I'm stressed, I can't write.  My creative juice doesn’t flow as it should.   The little voice of my muse becomes too faint to be heard.  I end up facing hours of writer’s block.  I develop half-ass scenes that inevitably need to be rewritten.  I waste time.

It was agonizing!  All my character and narrative voices were screaming at me.  They wanted to be heard.  They wanted to be written.

I used to produce and accomplish so much...

In the last three months, short stories, novel chapters, script scenes, Twitter and blog posts have all back up or fallen to the wayside.  Laundry, dishes, and clutter about my house have piled up.  Hubby’s complaining that the fridge is bare.  I would hear him opening and closing kitchen cabinets in search of edibles to cook.  We'd end up ordering out.

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Since last July, I’ve been off pursuing various diversions. The biggest diversion being my desire to learn the art of screenwriting ~ as if the already bubbling brook in my brain needs another fork to burble over. 

I’ve also been devoting more time novel writing, moving away from churning out short fiction.

With those meatier endeavors well underway, and with my list of non-writing obligations having settled into a managable schedule, I've finally found time to return to maintaining this blog.  It hadn't been updated for quite a while, and as my Home Page, it was a constant reminder of how busy and negligent of the little things I've been.

The 'making' of New Year's resolutions helped prompt this undertaking a bit.  I've added blogging to my resolution list.  Hopefully it will not be one that will fall to the wayside as the year progresses.

My list of writing-related projects for this year includes:

1. Finish  Fantasy Novel
2. Finish Steampunk Novel
3. Finish 1st Draft Lineage Screenplay
4. Polish 1st draft of Lineage Screenplay
5. Submit 2 Horror Tale to Markets
6. Complete 6 Flash Tales
7. Submit Those 6 Flash Tales to Markets
8. Complete 10 Micro Fiction Pieces
9. Submit Those 10 Micro Fiction Pieces to Markets
10. Compile Collection of Previously Published Flash & Micro
11. Tweet Daily ~ Personal Account
12. Tweet AlienSkin Response Results

With due diligence, I'm cofident 2010 will be a more productive and profitable year for writing.

For now, I wish you all a

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Posted by K. A. Patterson at 08:03 AM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

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To Tweet or Not to Tweet ~ Succumbing to the Urge to Twitter

Yes, I did it.  Finally, at the urging of fellow writers and friends, I’ve joined Twitter.com.

I’ve entered my tweet, chose my lovely background, customized my colors, and selected a few fiction writers to follow.

Where can you find me to tweet back?

Try http://twitter.com/KayPattersonASM.

See what your Alien Queen is up to when she not blogging or writing under the gun of a looming deadline.

So, it you’re a-twitter too, drop me an invite and we’ll play some follow the leader, talking shop on fiction writing!

Posted by K. A. Patterson at 08:29 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

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Being mindful of space is key in writing short fiction.  One must craft an entertaining tale, featuring a likable character in crisis, convey action, dialogue, tension, drama, and offer a satisfying ending in a limited amount of words.  Often in as little as 200 words!

Some argue that it can't be done.  They say a good story can't be told so precisely.  Others have done, just that.  They've written wonderfully worded tales in this new medium, call Flash Fiction.

At AlienSkin Magazine, we confine flash fiction to the parameters of 500 words minimum and 1,000 words maximum.  While this may seem a daunting task to those of you who are used writing longer fiction, stories can be told using less words.  We receive a large volume of flash fiction on a regular basis. Enough so, that we are converting to an All Flash Magazine.  Our readership and online stats show that our Flash Fiction and Micro Fiction sections receive the most reads each and every issue. 

People love surfing the net.  They love to pop into a site, read and item or two ~ items that quickly catch their eye ~ and then they pop out again on to the next site.

Readers enjoy good stories.  They seek them out in print, online and as podcasts.  They devour flash fiction during their lunch hour, between classes, during their ride home from school or work on their PDA.  They savor more tales after super on their home PC, on their multifucion cell phones, and again, their PDAs.

Flash Fiction Sells.  More and more markets seek very short stories.

But how can you, as a writer, be so precise and utilize such limited space to craft a well-rounded tale?  How can you cram characters, conflict, action, and dialogue into such a short piece?  Is there a formula for writing flash fiction that differs from writing short stories?

It can be done ~ it has been done.  And the formula for writing such a short story differs only slightly from writing fiction that generally falls within the 2,000-5,000 word range.

Flash Fiction Facts

In Flash Fiction:

• Only 1 or 2 characters are active. Name them.
  Readers identify with realistic characters.
• One Point of View prevails throughout the story.
• Scenes are limited to 1 or 2; 3 on rare ocassions.
• Dialogue is clipped for dramatic effect. Nothing is
  wasted on polite, etiquette speech.
• Conflict may involve internal turmoil or external stressors.
• Action must be concisely described and appropriate
  for the story.
• Description of setting and characters are minimal, yet vivid
  and concise.
• The first sentence must hook the reader.
• The story problem must be conveyed quickly, generally in
  the first 3 to 5 sentences.
• A resolution to the story problem must occur by the before
  the tale is complete. 

Why Some Flash Fiction Fail

The primary reason a writer fails to create a marketable piece of flash fiction is in the exclusion of one of the basic foundations on short story writing.

The tale typically lacks:

1.  A realistic, defined character that the reader identifies
    with and cares about.
2.  A life-changing problem that is within the central
    character’s ability to solve or one that is indeed
    solved by the central character.
3.  Appropriate dialogue. Often such tales contain
    dialogue that is lame, melodramatic, or unrealistic
    given the story’s circumstances.
4. Proper Point of View. Omnipresent point of view may
    distance the reader from the story. And first can’t be
    used if you end up killing off the viewpoint character.
5. A satisfying ending. The ending does not have to be
    a happy one, but it has to make sense and the main
    character has to be affected or changed by it.

Other times, a Flash Fiction story fails because it:

1. Relies on a gimmick or twist ending that most often
    seems tacked on.
2. Contains a cliché or overused plot. It is true that most
    storylines and themes have been used repeatedly in
    fiction, stories convey them in a different and unique way.
3. Utilizes generalities in describing action, character, and
    setting instead of specifics and vivid imagery.
4. Raises more questions than it answers once the story
    has ended.  Loose ends within the story have not been
    neatly tied up. They remain unraveled, causing the story
    to lack clarity.

Still not sure if Flash Fiction is for you?  Not certain a satisfying tale can be written in so few words?

Read the Flash Fiction section in AlienSkin Magazine.  We publish at least a dozen of them in each issue! 

Posted by K. A. Patterson at 06:19 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

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Short Story Secret IV:

Basic Short Story Plot Structure

Yeah, I know every one of you are smirking because you feel you already know this ~ or at least you think you do.

From what I see, reading through the hundreds of stories we receive each month at AlienSkin Magazine, many writers don’t.  You have a fairly good idea of what story structure is, but many of you fail to know how to build a chronologically solid plot structure for your story.

Some of the stories we receive are just base ideas that have not been fleshed out enough to offer enough conflict or complications for the main character to truly engage the reader and to maintain their interest until the end of the story.  They fail to see where dramatic scenes should occur.

If there are no Dramatic Scenes, the story wallows in ho-hum.  The writer receives a rejection letter. Hopefully, it will be a rejection letter hinting at what the story is lacking.  Such hints may be worded as "The story failed to maintain our interest" or "We feel the story needs work to heighten the tension and drama within the piece".  Those are two phrases we have used on our rejections letters from AlienSkin Magazine.

So let’s take a look at the standard plot structure of a chronological story as noted by Robert C. Meredith and John F. Fitzgerald in their article for The Writer’s Digest Handbook of Short Story Writing, entitled, Dramatizing Conflict in the Short Story.

Can you guess where the Big Scenes should occur?

Beginning:

1. Set the scene, giving a sense of where, when.
2. Introduce the main character or characters and establish
    the point of view.
3. Suggest in the tone and style of your writing what type of
    story the reader is reading (sci-fi, horror, fantasy, mystery,
    suspense, etc.)
4. Offer the background circumstances that eventually lead to
    the story’s main complication.
5. Trap the reader into reading the rest of the story with a
    narrative hook. Present a minor problem that later results
    in the main complication, or arouse an interest in the main
    character’s welfare.

Middle:

1. Present the main complication.
2. Present a series of events in which the main character
    tries to solve his/her problem only to meet with failure.
3. Present a situation of anticlimax in which it appears the
    main character will finally resolve the main complication,
    then have his/her efforts end in a disastrous failure.
    Have the failure be so bad that the reader will become
    convinced there is no hope of a satisfactory solution.
4. Have the failure of Step 3 of the Middle force the main
    character to make an agonizing decision. Have the decision
    point to the solution of the main complication.

End:

1. The solution of main complication happens here. The
    solution must be satisfactory and must be believable
    to the reader.  The main character must be changed
    in some way by the end of the story.

Now to find where the Big Scene/Dramatic Scenes should occur, we look for places within the above structure where two forces meet.

These places are primarily in the Middle, #1 - #4. There could even be one in the Beginning at #5.

In flash fiction, there would most often be one Big Scene. Thus, the whole Middle section would be squeeze into one dramatic scene.

Longer fiction, of 5,000 words or more, would have four dramatic scenes, those of the Middle.  You may even have five dramatic scenes.  If you did, you would utilize the last scene in the Beginning to give you the total of five scenes.

For stories in the mid-range of 2,000 to 3,500 words which we accept at AlienSkin, a tale would possess between 2-3 Big Scenes.

So if you guessed the Middle is where the Big Scenes and major action happens, you’re right!

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Short Story Secret III:

What Every Scene In Yor Story Must Do

Scenes are the essence of a short story.  They organize your plot, like a map or blue prints.  They present your story to the reader in a vivid, unfolding fashion.  Each scene builds upon the other, building suspense which pulls the reader along.  They draw the reader deeper and deeper into your story toward the promised, and delivered, climatic/dramatic scene at the end.

Scene creation and how many scenes you’ll need to tell the story, both depend on the story you want to tell and on the length of the tale.  The pacing of scenes depends on the type of story you are writing and the amount of tension you are trying to build within the piece.

There are innumerable How-To books on short story and fiction writing that offer more details on scene structure and how to write compelling scenes, but if you’re like most writers, you have the itch to write right now.  Like most of us you can only spare a few moments to brush up on writing tips, hoping to surf the web to find one that will help you tweak your story enough to snag a sale and a publishing credit.  You want some advice now.

While I don’t have any How-To Write Scenes advice of my own to offer you, I do have something for you to measure your own writing against.

It’s a test.  Just a little one.

It’s a little tidbit that may help boost your confidence a little. It may also damped your spirits ~ if you story fails to measure up.  But if your scene does fail this simple test, at least you’ll know where your story needs tweaking before you attempt to send it out to markets.

I call it:

Does Your Story Pass the Scene Test?

(Every scene within your short story MUST have these 5 elements or it fails to be dramatic)

1.  A Meeting ~ Two main forces of your story must be
     involved in conflict. Your hero and villain must clash.
     There must be emotion.

2.  A Purpose ~ Each scene must have a purpose for
     being included in the story. They must have something
     important to convey to the reader.

3.  The Encounter ~ must do these 2 things:

1.  Attempt to seek information or give
     information;

2. To Overcome the other by logic, argument,
    persuasion, or brute force.

4.  Final Action ~ The action within the scene should result
     in someone Winning, Losing or Quitting.

5.  The Aftermath ~ The state of mind of the characters or
     the state of affairs of the story should lead to the next
     scene or end the story by resolving the story problem.

Posted by K. A. Patterson at 08:10 AM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

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~ Are Your Stories Selling or Accumulating Rejection Notices?

If you answer to that question is the later, then its time to sit back and take a real look at why you stories might be turning editors off.

Here is where I offer you a very simple method for weeding out stories that should earn ready publication from those that may require some tweaking or major rewriting.

My motto is:

GET EVERY STORY RESUBMITTED TODAY! OR GET CRACKING ON A REWRITE!

Which is simply:

GET the guidelines for the market you just submitted to.  Did you follow them?  Did you send them a story in:

1. the Right Genre;
2. the Right Format;
3. the Right Word Count?

If your answer is NO ~ Shame On You.  You just wasted your time and the time of an editor.  No wonder they rejected you! Pick another market and submit the story properly this time.

If you answered YES, that you did all 3 of these things, than Continue On:

EVERY editor does not add a comment on their rejection letter.  Did this rejection include a hint as to why the story was rejected? If the answer is NO, don’t feel bad, your story may still be marketable as is, continue reading this blog entry.

If the answer is YES, skip to GET CRACKING ON A REWRITE section of this blog entry.

Your STORY may contain too many spelling and grammatical errors for an editor to consider to publishing.  You can not trust your Spell Checker program to catch all spelling errors for you and it does not find or correct grammatical errors.  Luckily, most word processing programs offer Spell Checking and Grammatical Error checking.  Both MSWord or Word Perfect, have this capability.  So be certain the option for the Spelling and Grammatical Checking is Turned ON and run it on your rejected story.

If you use MSWorks, you are out of luck, since the program does not offer such an option. Continue reading this blog entry.

After you have corrected and addressed each error it points out (or, and even if the program didn’t detect any errors, do the following:

1. Print out your story and visually review it for errors;
2. Circle the spelling errors, typos, and poorly worded sentences;
3. Fix the errors and tweak the faulty sentences;
4. Then continue reading this blog entry.

Before being RESUBMITTED, all stories MUST be read aloud a least once! Since you already printed out your story in the step above, READ IT ALOUD!  You will be surprised how many errors you will find by doing this.  Most will be stylistic, but such stylistic errors can also turn off editors as they review stories.

If you made considerable changes to the story in the previous step, you may want to print out a fresh copy of it, so it includes the corrections or updates you made.  If you find more errors, or areas in need of tweaking, fix them and update your story; then continue reading this blog entry.

TODAY is the day you put your story to the test: THE DOES YOUR STORY HAVE MERIT TEST.

In a blog entry I wrote last February, I offered you a way to test your story idea to see if it possesses enough merit to attract a publisher.

Take This Test Now (CLICK HERE):

If your story PASSES the Merit Test, pick another market for your story and SUBMIT IT NOW!  Follow all the Submission Guidelines naturally.

If your story FAILED the test, proceed to the Final Step of this blog entry:

The Final Step, being:

GET CRACKING ON A REWRITE!

Suck it up, get it done, spell and grammar check it, read it aloud one last time and send it out!

Follow the above Motto and YOU WILL GET More Stories PUBLISHED!

Posted by K. A. Patterson at 09:09 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

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A Recap of My 2007 Goals ~

How Did They Stack Up to My Expectations?

Last year, I set 6 writing goals for myself.  The goals were achievable.  I set a bar for myself higher than my normal productivity, but no so high that they weret unrealistic or unobtainable.  With those goals set, and now with 2007 behind me, how did I do?  Did I keep my list of resolutions for 2007?

Let's see:

Goal # 1:  Produce 2 New Short Stories a Month.

  ~ Yep, kept it.  Even excelled above it most months.

Goal #2:  Submit 2 or More Stories a Month to Markets.

  ~ Overall I did, when you consider the volume of submissions I sent in 2007.  Most months well exceeded my goal ~ with the exception of October and November, when no subs were sent.  In reviewing those two months, I found no viable excuse.

Goal #3: Start & Complete First Draft of my Fantasy Novel

  ~ Well, I did start my Epic.  I'm knee deep in Chapter Seven.  As far as having a completed draft.  No, but the entire 1st book is outlined and the plot kinks worked out. The outline for the 2nd book is partially completed also.  So, I'm happy with how Goal #3 went, even without the draft being done.

Goal #4: Complete 1st & 2nd Book of Children's Series

  ~  Sad to say, I didn't even touch this one.  Honestly, I'd rather work on the epic.

Goal #5:  Enter Story Ideas/Notes into a Database for Quick Reference

  ~ Done, and continuing.

Goal #6: Publicize Latest publication News in Emails Throughout the Year

  ~ Done, and continuing.

So, as you can see, 2007 wasn't a bad year for me goal-wise.

Having goals as a writer is very important.  They give you something to think about and to strive for.  What is really cool, is discovering just how far you've come in a year!

Now for 2008.  What Goals Have I Set for This Year?

Well, I decided to keep Goals #1, #2, #5 & #6 from last year.  And I've revamped Goal #3 to Complete First Draft of Fantasy Epic.

Sounds go too me!  I'll let you know how things go as the year progresses.

What Are Your Writing Goals For 2008???

If you haven't made any yet, DO IT NOW!!!  You Can't Get Published If You Don't Write & Don't Submit!

Posted by K. A. Patterson at 09:55 AM | Permalink

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~ Does your writing Pass or Fail to Measure Up?  Use This Test to Find Out

At the nagging of my staffer Phil Adams from AlienSkin, I set before you a handy bit of advice that will help you produce more comprehensive fiction.  Whether you write short stories, novellas or novels, this advice is key to ensuring your story will be comprehended by a wide audience or readers and editors.

Pro writers churning out best-selling novels are found to use a high percentage of active voice, shorter words and shorter sentences.  By doing this, there ensure their stories are comphrended by a broad audience of readers.

Even though each story we write is unique, and though we should strive to for a natural flow to our storytelling, the Readability Test helps us gauge where our writing falls compared to a norm.  There will be instances where you will want to use longer words and more complex sentence structure ~ especially when you are try to establish a specific style or when you are try to appeal to a particular audience ~ and this is fine.  The Readability Test is merely a gauge to alert you to how comprehensible your scene is compared to a preferred norm that appeals to readers.

The Readability Test is a simple way for you to monitor the readability of your story scene-by-scene.  The components of the test are compiled and accessed via the word processing software you use ~ primarily Microsoft Word or WordPerfect.

To access the Readability Statistics in MSWord you must turn that option on. Under the Tools menu of the Word tool bar choose Options, then Spelling & Grammar. Under the Grammar section be sure there is a check mark in the box beside Show Readability Statistics, then click OK to save your changes.

To find out the score of your scene, simply highlight the scene and choose Spell Check.  Once the spell check is complete, the Readability Statistics will be automatically displayed.  Write them down and compare them to the following Preferred Scores ~ better yet ~ copy the Preferred Scores onto an index card and keep the card beside you as you write.

The Readability Test

~ For Writers Using MS Word ~

Strive for the following scores on a per scene basis.

Words per Sentence:           15 maximum
Characters per word:            4.5 maximum
Passive Voice:                     5% maximum
Flesch Reading Ease:           80% minimum
Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level:   6 maximum

~ For Writers Using WordPerfect ~

WorkPerfect uses Grammatik to compile statistics for readability. The elements below are slightly different than those used by MSWord, but they work just the same.

Strive for the following scores on a per scene basis.

Words per Sentence:        15 maximum
Syllables per word:           1.5 maximum
Passive Voice:                 5% maximum
Sentence Complexity:      30% minimum
Vocabulary Complexity:    15 maximum

This test, as well as other nifty writing tips can be found in the book, The Writer’s Little Helper, by James V. Smith, Jr.  I’ve found the book to be an invaluable aid to me in my own writing.  It’s a small-sized book for a small price that will save you more rejection letters than you would get without following its advice.  For as low as $3.50 you can buy the book used on Amazon.com!

Posted by K. A. Patterson at 10:12 AM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

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Writer’s block happens to all of us.  You can’t predict when it will happen.  It often pounces suddenly ~ while you’re in the middle of novel writing.  The scene you’re creating fails to come alive.  It doesn’t play out in your mind’s eye.  Or you may be deep relating the unfolding plot of a short story and your main character just freezes, his dialogue sputters to a halt as you sit and blink at your computer screen.  True to your art, you fumble onward, but within a day or two you finally realize your prose is suffering.  Your sentences are disjointed.  You’ve slipped into tell and fail to show.

Have you lost your story-telling pizzazz for good?

Heck no!  You’re just experiencing a bout of writer’s block.  Unfortunately, writer’s block can last a day, a week, or even a month or more.  It’s like a burn out.  The creative side of your mind just shuts down for a bit.  It refuses to function.  And the more you try to force the words to flow, they won’t even trickle out.

When it first happened to me I was devastated.  Then, I became determined.  Instead of letting such a block best me, by preventing me from meeting my deadlines, I decided to combat it.

Since I couldn’t write, I let my creative self have its rest.  I switched my analytical mind into full gear, and used it to devise a way to battle my bout with writer’s block.

My ultimate battle plan took quite a few clashes with writer’s block to perfect, but even during that initial block ~ with only a few stategies in place ~ I noticed results.

In actuality, I have 2 battle plans:

One for blocks that occur when I’m already working on a story and my creative well runs dry.  One for blocks that leaves me staring at a blank page without an inkling of a story idea in mind.

For me, these two battle plans have been infallible.  For you, they may need some tweaking to correlate them to your own tastes in writing and for the genres you write.  But here they are:

Battle Plan A ~ for In Medias Res Writer’s Block

1. Read over the last two scenes you have written.

2. Begin editing the story or chapter you were working on when the block hit.

3. Read something totally opposite of what you write.  Avoid reading anything in the genre you are working in as you may end up depressing yourself, and thereby risk extending the block.

4. Got out and have some fun.  See a movie, shoot some pool, hang out with friends, go shopping, play your favorite computer or online game.  A variation of this, is do some mundane household chore: laundry, clear out your writing space, dishes, cut the grass, etc.

5. Listen to your favorite music.  I have particular music I listen to when I write: Enya, Clannad or Loreena McKennitt when I write fantasy; Nox Arcana and Midnight Syndicate wen I write horror, and The Alan Parson Project, Pink Floyd, or Yes when I write Sci-fi.

Battle Plan B ~ For Blank Page Writer’s Block

1. Read through the Submission Guidelines of the anthology listings posted on Ralan.com.  They’re generally themed and themes can spark story ideas.

2. Read anything you can in the genre you are trying to write ~ preferably short fiction.  Online magazines are great for this.

3. Select five fiction novels in your home or from the local library.  Open one book at time to a random page and copy down the first sentence of any paragraph on that page.  Repeat this procedure 3 times for each book.  Then pick a sentence and toy with it.  Type it in your computer and see if you can spin it into a story.  Try this with as many of the sentences as you need to until you begin to formulate a story idea or two.

4. Go see a movie, rent one, or play one from your own collection.  The movie doesn’t have to mirror the genre you are trying write.  Watch it with a writer’s eye. Look at the character development, watch how the action and suspense develops, etc.

5. Listen to your favorite music.  Try and pick music that matches the tone of the genre you are trying to write.

Generally, I only have to do one or two of the strategies in either of these two plans to get back on track. Sometimes, when I have strong characters but a weak plotline, it may take all five until the story truly gells and my plot strengthens.

When that happens, when I find I need more fire power to break through my block, I tend to step back from my work and take a second look at the story I’m trying to write ~ realizing my plot or my characters need revamping.  My writer’s block in those instances seem more self-inflicted that the mere burnout.

So as an added bit of advice, you might want to consider analysizing why you were blocked in the first place.  Was your story lacking?

Either way, get youself a battle plan.

In case you don’t have one, feel free to try one of mine.

Posted by K. A. Patterson at 06:23 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

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The Dramatic Scene ~

The dramatic scene is the most indispensable devices in fiction writing. Without it, your story will be flat. Your plotline won’t congeal, your characters’ motivations will seem lacking. Your reader will pick it up, peruse it, but their attention will drift. They’ll put aside your story, do their laundry, take out the trash, paint their nails. Editors will stretch and yawn, then look about for something more interesting to read while sliding your manuscript to the top of their reject pile.

A dramatic scene completes your story. Where every scene in your tale must advance your characters and plot, and provide structure and continuity, the dramatic scene ties everything together. How you write that scene and how you delivery it to the reader will make or break your story.

Fiction is comprised of Character, Conflict, Dialogue and Action. How you structure those four components into scenes determines how compelling your story will be to readers.

Without a dramatic scene your story won’t be complete. You’ll have a jumble of ideas. A vignette. Not a real story. Not one with impact.

As writers, we all want to wow our readers in some way. And we can do just that ~ time and again, if we just take the time to flesh out the dramatic scenes within our stories.

Each short story you will have only one of dramatic scene. In a novella or novel, you’ll have several minor dramatic scenes and one whopper dramatic scene at the end of the tale.

What Constitutes a Dramatic Scene?

Dramatic scenes produce conflict. To know where a dramatic scene occurs in your story, look for scenes that contain conflict. The dramatic scene will be the section in your story where two opposing forces meet and clash. This should be the very moment where your main character confronts the antagonist of the story, or where he comes face to face with what angsts him most ~ the thing that has turned his world upside down from page one. The very thing which must be overcome in order to, hopefully, put your character’s life back in order ~ or what ultimately defeats him. This is the climax of your story ~ it not always the ending of your story. But it is indeed the showdown between two forces.

Don’t rush this moment, this scene. Visualize it, play it over and over within your head ~ seeing it start and end with your mind’s eye. Be each character, mull over the point of view of your protagonist, then put yourself in the shoes of your antagonist and his side of things. Feel their desires, fears and hatred. Take notes of any new impressions or insights you discover during this ‘envisioning stage’. Do all this while your uncompleted story sits untouched for a few days.

Then, once you’ve done all this, when the climatic scene fills your thoughts and you see it in your mind, write it.

Posted by K. A. Patterson at 10:47 AM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

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May remained a hectic, but productive month for me as a writer.  My day-job allots me vacation time and I took advantage of that wonderful benefit to treat myself to a Writer’s Weekend. Sans hubby, daughter, phone service, Internet, and all but 3 TV channels, I spent 4 days/3 nights in the woods at a semi-secluded, Bed & Breakfast style lodge.  The place is comfy and offers a variety of food for breakfast, lunch and dinner.  Throughout the year they also offer various getaway packages.  Most of the packages are geared for couples, offering lodging for two night, breakfast, and dinner for two both nights; but they are also perfect for a single guest, who craves some alone time.

When I go on these mini excursions to the lodge, I typically get a king-sized room which comes with a wooden balcony.  Such a balcony gives one the impression of being alone at one’s cabin to relax and recharge from the hustle, bustle, responsibility and stress of life.  I can ponder stories while I sit out on my porch/balcony, sipping my coffee as the birds chirp in the surrounding trees.  I can hear the burbling of the nearby river. For a writer, it’s pure heaven.

On this last trip I had three story deadlines to meet, 15 flash submissions to read, and 20 rejections to write.

I completed the 3 stories, developed and started 2 others (both of which tallied over 5,000 words combined), read and votes on the 15 flash subs, and wrote and saved the 20 rejections.

Dinner each night was marvelous! I had two $40.00 vouchers to use towards my dinning, so I used them for all my meals.

The lodge has a cool Lookout. Since my room was located on the 1st floor, I trekked out to the lookout along the trail (which was just beyond my porch) each afternoon and read for a hour.

My book of choice this trip was Odd Thomas by Dean Koontz ~ which is an excellent book. It sucked me right in from Chapter One on, and I wanted to devour it in a day, but I maintained a discipline of three 1 hour reading sessions in the mid-morning, afternoon and just before bed. I finished the book that weekend too!

I’ve done the retreat as a 2-day excursion and I come away equally revitalized, but the added day is a real treat.  At about $328.00 + tax for a weekend and about $90 for the extra night, I can’t do such a thing often, but I do make it at least an annual thing. The lodge folks know me and typically ask me what type of stories I'm working on that trip.  They also make sure I have a carafe of coffee each morning.

And the thing is, you can do such a thing too. 

A 2-night stay at your local hotel can do wonders ~ you just have to make sure you do NOT surf the Internet, watch TV or call home!!!!!  And if you live alone, you can simply stay home but again the no TV, no Web, or Phone Calls rule still applies.

***

In a parting comment: Of the 3 stories I finished, I sold one tale. Got a great, personal rejection from a pro market, and 1 tale is still out there. Of the two tales I started, 1 is over 5k and a whole lot of fun to write; and the 2nd has been touched yet ~ but only due to other obligation pulling me away from my personal writing.

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This has been a very busy month ~ as you can surmise my 'micro-posts' here on my blog.

Aside from speeding through another, unusually large mound of short story submissions for AlienSkin, I’ve attended the HorrorFind convention in Maryland; met Adrienne Barbeau; met with our recently interviewed UFO investigator and alien abductee, Alan Caviness; and I’ve been working under the clock, trying to complete stories and to have my own submissions in to editor before deadlines arrive.

I’ve garnered some rejection letters ~ two with very apologetic and encouraging notes from the editors; and I’ve managed to find homes for a couple of stories as well.

Three new mini-horror tales are currently online at MicroHorror. They are entitled Snake Pit, Mid-Summer Catch, and On the Grounds of the Evil Eye.

MicroFlash, as well as, Flash fiction writing in general (stories under 1,000 words) have quickly become part of the writing regime of many writers. Especially those desiring to hone their writing and creativity skills, and those looking to increase their monthly productivity while working on a novel or series of short stories in the 3,000 to 6,000 word range.

For me, with all those story ideas bubbling inside my head while I’m at work all day, and with my demanding work schedule once I do get home, I find creating tales of 100-500 words therapeutic as well as rewarding.

I might crank out 2 micro-flash pieces one night, only to mull the ideas over further during the next day, then end up revisiting one or both of the tales to develop and expand them into a longer piece. You can’t ask for a better writing exercise than that ~ I especially can't, not when my main writing time is typically relegated to weekends.

Posted by K. A. Patterson at 08:11 PM | Permalink

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Must Dos When Submitting to Short Story Markets

1. Review a current copy of the Submission Guidelines of the market you intend to approach. Most SFFH markets and their Guidelines are available online through www.Ralan.com and www.duotrope.com.

2. Double check that you submission follows the market’s guidelines as to format, word count, subject tag line; and make sure it fits the genres the market publishes. When no particular format is stipulated, use the Standard Manuscript Format.

Do not use fancy fonts, large bold lettering for you title, colorful backgrounds, or cover letter teasers ~ they won’t get you one iota of special treatment with editors. It will make us editors roll our eyes and consider you hokey. But your story will still end up amid the slush pile with everyone else’s submission. No higher (maybe even a little bit lower).

3. Run Spell Checker on your entire story, then read your story aloud so you can hear if the story drags or falters. Reading your story aloud also helps your visually catch errors you might’ve missed while staring at the story on you pc.

4. Ensure your submission contains the following information:

Your:

Legal Name
Mailing Address
Email Address
Preferred Byline (if different than you legal name)
Story Title

An if you are mailing your submission, be sure to include a Self-Addressed Stamped Envelope (SASE).

5. Keep a record of your submissions in a notebook or on a spreadsheet on your computer. You should record the following information:

Story Title you submitted
Date Sent
Market Name ~ where you sent your story
Response Time of the market
Response ~ Did the story get accepted or rejected
Response Date

6. Be sure to give the market ample time to review and reply to your submission before you send a query. The customary period to wait before querying is 1 1/2 times the market’s stated response time.

Posted by K. A. Patterson at 08:37 PM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)

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Simplicity ~

Maintaining elements of simplicity in your writing maximizes the readability of your fiction.  Following the Rules of Simplicity will help you tighten your prose and will help heighten the drama of your story. Tight, concise writing brings stories alive for your readers, offering them clear action and sharp imagery. It helps you keep your writing focused, training you to trim down rambling sentences, to remove weak verbs and extraneous information that bog down the story.

Just what are these Rules of Simplicity?

I've listed them here for you.  They're practical and simple:

Rules of Simplicity

Simplify Your Story even before you write it. Have a clear view off your tale from your Opening Scene/Paragraph/Sentence to your Closing Scene/Paragraph/Sentence.

1. Use Active Voice.
   
2. Use Short Sentences.
   
3. Use Specific Verbs & Concise Nouns, allowing them to convey strong images and meaning.
   
4. Maintain the Concept of Singularity Throughout your Story ~

a Single Idea per Sentence
a Single Topic per Paragraph
a Single Purpose per Scene
              and
a Single, Dominant Central Plotline Per Story you write.

Note:  The above can be found in are The Elements of Style by Strunk and White, but I prefer to use The Writer's Little Helper by James V. Smith Jr. and the Handbook of Short Story Writing published by Writer's Digest as reference guides (they're less pretentious).

Posted by K. A. Patterson at 01:10 PM | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBacks (0)

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I must admit I’m hooked! I’m a Fibber. I’ve caught the Fib Fever!

Ever since I heard about the Less Is More ~ Micro-Flash Contest being sponsored by FlashQuake, and clicked on the link there to Gregory K. Pincus’ blog, Gottabook, I’ve been intrigued and challenged.

Being a number-cruncher for years, I was immediately fascinated with the concept of combining math with poetry. Gregory K. deemed his new, experimental form poetry the Fib. Fibs resemble haiku, but their format is based on the Fibonacci Sequence, a numeric sequence repeated in nature, and once recently mentioned in the recent movie, The Di Vinci Code, directed by Ron Howard, and staring Tom Hanks and Audrey Tautou.

The format rules, using this sequence, are simple:

Each poem is six lines long and is comprised of 20 syllables, with a syllable per line count of 1/1/2/3/5/8.

Gregory K.’s example of a standard Fib is:

One
Small,
Precise,
Poetic,
Spiraling mixture:
Math plus poetry yields the Fib.

And fibs are popping up on the web, in blogs all around the world. They’re quick, slick, and unique, though not necessarily as easy as they look.

Try it out. But I warn you, Fibbing is Very Addictive!!!!!!

Now that I’m Fibbing, I can’t seem to stop!

Oh, and there’s a neat site online that helps with syllable counting. I use it all the time, instead of relying on my, often addled, brain cells when I’m tallying syllables in my newly created fib. This fabulous little gem of a site is simply, The Syllable Counter.

Another site I’ve found handy that I’ll pass along is Thesaurus.com.

I finding my Fibs tend to have a morbid bent. What’d you expect from an avid horror lover?

Enough said, go Fib! Catch Fib Fever.

Posted by K. A. Patterson at 08:55 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

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In reviewing this past year, I found I had accomplished some of what I had hoped to, but not nearly as much as I had thought. So, I’ve tweaked my last years Resolutions List and upped the anti a bit for the year to come. Only time will tell if I’m successful or not.

But more importantly, what are Your Writing Resolutions?

Here are the top 6 of mine:

1. Produce at least 2 new short stories per month.

2. Submit 2 or more stories a month to markets.

3. Start and complete first draft of my Fantasy novel.

4. Complete 1st and 2nd books in Children’s series.

5. Enter story ideas/notes into a data base for quick reference.

6. Publicize latest publication in email signature throughout year.

Posted by K. A. Patterson at 11:43 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

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Writing forums are often a buzz with rehashes of the age-old argument ‘should you or shouldn’t you outline a story before you actually write it'.  As a writer I too have debated the issue with myself, and with other writers. But generally, such debates and forum rantings often end up at a draw, with everyone conceding it’s ultimately a matter of personal preference.  And I had always been quite happy with such a concession.

I had been an advocate of the Plunge Right In method of writing. I believed one should take advantage of those precious moments when the creative juices are flowing. So when the flood gates opened for me, I promptly dashed off to my computer or whipped out a note pad.  My fingers would dance over the keyboard of my pc, or I’d scribble madly to get every thought down, pounding out the story until that sudden surge of energy drained out of me.  Naturanlly, I'd end up with a large chuck of the story completed in that one sitting.  I wouldn’t have bother to pause in order to brainstorm the pros and cons of what my characters were doing within the tale as I wrote it.  In those moments, while the idea had been fresh in my mind, I simply allowed the characters to have their way.  I allowed them to vent and romp in the heat of the moment.

But when I did this, when I Plunged Right In and wrote the tale, did I really end up with a credible story, with characters that possessed a sense of logic, who acted rationally to the situations they were placed in?  Would readers truly find the story and characters believeable when they read the finished tale? Would the draft I completed in that sitting contain enough depth to sustain my own interest to entice me to rewriting the piece, to se it to completion?

More often than not, the answer was no.

The resulting story was indeed merely a rough draft.  It possessed superficial characters, a decent plotline, some dialogue, a smattering of action.  But, as with all rough drafts, the fruit of my 'single-sitting flood of creativity’ needed to be clipped or expanded, polished and tweaked.  My overwhelming urge to write had been sated. The drafts I completed in this manner were plopped into a To-Do folder where they collected dust until I felt a compelling enough ‘urge’ to dig one of them out, to revisit those characters, enough to polish the tale for publication.

Thus, like many of you, I had a very plump To-Do folder.  I had two actually.  Both contained numerous partial and completed stories that hadn't been worked on or retouched in weeks, months, and even years.

During those times, when the flood gates opened and my creativity was at its peak, I never gave a moment's thought of outlining the story first.  All my brainstorming and dissecting of a story took place during the polishing stages, which typically entailed 3-4 drafts of a single story.

Then, last year, on a lark I decided to test the Outline First method for myself.  Pundits of such a method profess that by taking the time to outline a story first you ultimately save yourself time. You’ll supposedly spend less time polishing the piece, and end up with a more fleshed out first draft than the one you'd get if you simply punched out the story in the ‘heat of the moment’.  Sure. I bet.

So when the next urge to write washed over me, I took a moment to ponder my story.  I made a quick list of the central characters; listed what they wanted, what their role was within the story, and noted how they ended up by the story’s finish. I titled each scene with a tag word, jotted down notes as to what happened in each scene and why.

And as I did this, I found myself acquiring a broader, and more vivid, visualization of the characters and of the story as a whole.  I took the time to brainstorm areas that were initially vague to me when the story first germinated within my thoughts.  I got to toy with the plot, to mold it in various way, applying various ‘what ifs’.  I tested each scenario to see if a certain scene or the plotline itself would weaken or fall a part.

Sure, I usually did this with all my stories, but again, my brainstorming would happen after I had a rough draft already written.

What made this brainstorming session different, was that when I quit for the night, I found that I actually looked forward to revisiting the story and my characters the next day.  I didn’t consider working on the same story the next day as drudgery work, the typical work-in-progress chore.

And as I wrote the first draft of the story, I found the words flowing forth just like they would when I Plunge Right In and write from the heart. Only this time, the character possessed more depth, their motives for doing what they do within the tale were quite clear to me.  Each scene was more vivid. The actions sequences were logical.  My usual 3-4 drafts for a story, became 2.  I had a polished, publishable story in 2 drafts.  Yeehaw!

Yeah, but did the story sell?

You bet it did.  I sent it out to a short story market at 9 am on a Saturday and had an acceptance email in my in-bin by noon.

'No way!' you say?

Yes, way!

So, am I sold on the Outline First method?

I’d say so.  I still jot down notes when a story idea first hits me ~ and that’s usually because I’m no where near my computer when the ‘story wave’ hits me.  I’ve whittled down the ‘writing’ programs down to the two I found to be he most effective for me and my writing regime.  I use Write It Now for my short stuff, and feed my longer tales and novel ideas into Dramatica Pro.

I still have a To-Do folder, a single one, but it is looking a lot leaner.  My publications have increased to over 60%, and as busy as I am, that’s pure sweetness for me.

I only wish there were more pro markets that gobble up genre fiction as much as the anthologies and semi-pro magazines do.

So after all this, my advice to you would be: If you haven’t Outlined a story before you've started to write it, try doing so. Get yourself a cheap writing program like Write It Now (for about $35.00). It’ll be worth it.  And I don’t mean in the long run.  You’ll see the difference right away.  You’ll ‘see’ your story, and you’ll 'see' your characters more clearly.

And that’s from one writer to another.

Posted by K. A. Patterson at 05:44 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

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