A Young Woman To Admire

Answers to the whereabouts of the picture prompts of yesterday. #1 was a street carousel in Strasbourg, France. #2 was Peggys Cove, Nova Scotia where a Swiss Airline crashed a number of years ago. The lighthouse in the picture is now a post office. #3 are the Rondavel huts in a camp in Krueger Park Game Reserve in South Africa.

The picture above is of Petra Niedermayerova who is a member of our Kansas State University tennis team. We met her through the student we hosted last year. Janka is from Slovakia and she and Petra were friends. She asked if she could bring Petra to dinner one night in 2011. We have been friends with Petra ever since and have watched her K-State tennis career with great interest, even though I understand only the basics of the game.

Petra is from Brno, Czech Republic and is spending 4 years at K-State playing tennis and studying economics. She is a top student, an excellent tennis player and a lovely person. This week Petra is playing in the NCAA Nationals in Urbana, IL. 

We happened to be coming to the same area to visit one of Ken's brothers. We got here yesterday in time to watch Petra's second singles match on a cold, windy afternoon. She had beaten a girl from Stanford on Wednesday and yesterday, she won a tie breaker over a player fromUCLA. Then last night Petra and her doubles partner, Carla, won their match.

The win yesterday means that Petra has the school record for number of wins. A big congratulations to her!

We are going back to the Tennis Center this morning to watch Petra's next singles match. Win or lose today, she will always be a winner to us. But we're hoping she'll come out on top again today.

3 Picture Prompts--Guess the Location

Picture Prompt #1

Here is another picture prompt for you. I considered telling you where it was taken, but that might spoil it for you. Better that you start without knowing what town this is. I will tell you that it is not in the USA. I see great possibilities with this one.

All the prompts here today are pictures from trips we have taken. I'll tell you on Friday where they are. Maybe you can come up with a guess. If so, put it in the comments section, check tomorrow and see if you were right. Remember--let your imagination run wild with these prompts.

Picture Prompt #2

This place we visited was very emotional for me. A great tragedy happened here. It also is not in the USA.

Picture Prompt #3

You can probably guess that these places to stay were not in the USA. We spent a pleasant night in one of them. Can you set a story here? Writer a descriptive paragraph? 

Writers Must Write

I've known a lot of people like this, too. They join writers groups but seldom bring anything to read. They prefer talking about the writing world and listening to other people's writing. They dream about the day they will write that smash hit book. They immerse themselves in all things 'writing' but seldom make time or give the effort it takes to actually do the writing. 

This sounds harsh, and perhaps it is. But it does happen far more than you might think. There is nothing wrong in being interested in the literary world and wanting to be around writers. The only wrong thing is if you proclaim yourself to be a writer and then seldom put words on paper (or screen!). 

Why does this happen? I think one reason is fear. What if I am no good? What do I do if I start selling my work? How do I follow up with more? What if someone laughs at what I've written? What if the others in the group tear my story to pieces? These are real fears and a good many people have felt them at some time or other. 

I'm great at giving myself mental lectures. It's easy. Try telling yourself that very few writers are great successes in the early years. We learn through our errors. If I'm in a writing group and they are constantly pointing out my overlong sentences, what I need to do is listen and start writing shorter sentences. If one critique after another mentions that I constantly repeat words, I should check everything for repetitiveness when I edit. If the critiquers tell me that I'm mixing up my tenses throughout the story, it's up to me to check it in the editing process. The main thing is that I learn from what is pointed out. The trick here is to be sure to listen to your own lecture. 

To be a writer, you must write, you need to be willing to have others critique your work. Whether it is in a group or just a buddy writer, find someone to look at what you've written. It's the best way to grow your skill as a writer. 

OK, today I've pushed you about writing something, not just thinking about it. Here's a picture prompt to get you started. You know the drill. Study the picture and start writing. Write whatever comes to mind. Later, you can go back and expand, edit, revise or whatever. But for now, just write!

Writing Is A Skill

The woman quoted above advises writers to tell a story rather than just stringing words together. Sadly, that is exactly what some writers do when they think they are writing a story.

Keep in mind that a story must have a beginning, a middle, and an ending. Three parts that pull together to make a whole. More than once, I've mentioned a book for writers that is invaluable in showing how to do this. Look at your local library or order online or find it in a bookstore, but do take time to read Nancy Kress's book Beginnings, Middles, and Ends. Her instructions in this book work well for both short stories and novels. I'd also add for stories written in the creative nonfiction field.

A story needs a problem to be solved. If everything is just hunky-dory day after day, there is no incentive to the reader to keep reading. The problem size can vary from something pretty small to gargantuan.

Another thing a story needs is one or more characters who the reader can like or relate to. I once read a novel that had numerous characters and not one of them was likeable. The whole thing turned me off in a hurry. I did finish the book because I wanted to see if any of them would shape up into nicer people, but they didn't! Not every character should be likeable. We have to have someone to hiss at, don't we? But give me at least one I can like.

What I've mentioned here are only the basics of writing a story. There are so many more details that must be considered when crafting a tale. Google 'how to write a story' and you'll come up with dozens of articles to read. Writing is a skill that can be learned and must be fed with new learning all the time.

You Are A Story. Write it!

The quote above speaks to me about the importance of each of us writing our own story. You know how often I harp on writing down those family stories so that future generations of your family will have them. It's why I've suggested we all have Memory Books that we can add to on a continuous basis.

Maybe there's more than just those fun family stories to be written. How about writing your own story about you? Memoir has become a strong genre in the past decade or so. More and more people write memoirs and seek a publisher. Who would want to read about me? you might be thinking. Even though many memoir books are about well-known people, there are plenty of them about simple everyday folk like you and me.

Memoir is different from a biography in the respect that a biography tells an entire life story, while a memoir might only focus on certain periods, often uses a theme. Memoir is written in first person and is narrative.

Your story would be filled with both the joys and the disappointments you've encountered.  Perhaps it would include a tragic happening. It might center on the relationship you had with others in your family--both the good and the bad. No tragedy in your life? That's great, but I bet you have enough hills and valleys in the years you've lived to be able to write something of interest to those who know you and maybe to those who don't.

If you keep a Memory Book and add to it now and then, you're actually putting together a memoir, one that might not go in chronological order. Who says it has to start with Day 1 of your life and move on day by day? In fact, if done that way, it can end up being a bit boring.

If you're going to write your story, the story about you, keep in mind that you can use the same techniques as you would in writing a fiction piece. Give the reader a sense of place--let them see the area you grew up in, then maybe where you spend your adult life. The name of the town and state, or country, is not enough. Let your reader feel that place. You know it well, you lived there but you have to let others see it, too.

Use dialogue in part of your memoir. It adds interest, makes people seem more real. Along with that, think about characterization. Just as a novelist creates a character that the reader can see in a mental image, you can write about the people who influenced you in some way with more than a name and giving them a label. Make your readers see them as you did.

Use sensory details and allow your emotions to come forth in your writing. If you don't, it will be flat. It's not always easy to unleash your emotions when writing about yourself. It's something you may need to work on.

My last point here is one made in the poster/quote. Make your memoir about what in your life changed you in some way? Good or bad, large or small--that doesn't matter. I can think of several things in my life that changed me as a person.

Editing Unnecessary Words

Actually, it's not OK to write garbage, but the point here is well-said. Last night, I critiqued a blog post for a member of my writers group. She had a lot of good things to say about her subject matter, but the piece needed editing. It was a first draft which she asked others to read and suggest changes.

She used many unnecessary words, mainly because she wrote in the way we think or speak on a daily basis. We chatter, adding all kinds of phrases and words that contribute little to the main theme of what we're trying to say. My friend is not alone in doing this. It's a common failing and one writers need to address in every story or article they write. Our writing needs to be far more concise than our conversation skills. 

If we add needless words like salt and pepper on a fried egg, the reader can lose subject matter. They have to dig through those additions to find the meat of the story. Some may give up and quit reading.

1.  What are some unnecessary words that can be eliminated? Check the short list below:

• practically
• actually
• sort of
• kind of
• particular
• generally
• really

2.  One more way to eliminate an unneeded word: If you write a sentence using that before a noun, your sentence loses nothing by cutting it. Example below:

OK:  This is the hotel that Donald Trump built.

Better:  This is the hotel Donald Trump built.

OK:  I loved the dress that you wore to the prom

Better:  I love the dress you wore to the prom.

3.  Don't try for long descriptive sentences when a short one will get the idea across. Yes, there are times we all like to write prose like a poet, but too much of it becomes fodder for those unnecessary word critiques.

In the early days of my writing, I claimed the title of Queen of Unnecessary Words. Thanks to some good critiquers, I soon learned to tighten my writing by eliminating words that had no bearing on the subject. Doing this resulted in a more professional piece that proved easier to read and understand.  Guess what? When I edited this post, I removed a good many of those words that were not needed.

What I've listed above is only a partial list of the unnecessary word syndrome. There are many others. Google 'unnecessary words in writing' to find more detailed articles. When you edit your work, train yourself to look for those words that can be cut. It will take some time but you'll find it easier with practice.

Where and How We Write

Isn't this the perfect spot to sit with your morning newspaper or a book? Sip a cup of tea or savor your first cup of coffee of the day. That's what I'd do in this spot.

There are writers who would sit in that chair with pencil and pad on their lap and create a story, essay, poem or even a feature article. Some will tell you that they do their best thinking with that pad and pencil and in a comfy spot.

There are others, like me, who compose at the keyboard. I think that those of us who long ago used a manual or electric typewriter are the ones who now write initially from the keyboard. It feels right to us. Besides that, it saves time. If you write in longhand, then you have to eventually transpose it to your computer.

Occasionally, I try to write longhand in the car while Ken is driving. Only when we're on a lengthy road trip, not just out running an errand. I find it difficult to write this way and I can't say that I'm often successful in getting a story done right or the way I'd like to.

I do, however, find that the pad and pencil method is great for jotting down ideas or those wonderful phrases that come to mind when you are away from your writing area. Today, when I put in my 40 minutes of walking time, I started planning a new essay. As the birdsong surrounded me on an otherwise quiet morning, I thought of a descriptive phrase that was good enough that I didn't want to lose it. I didn't have anything with me to write it down, but I did make a few notes when I got home.

What's your favorite place to write? An easy chair? At the kitchen table? In a home office? Where are you the most comfortable? And which method do you prefer? Longhand first or write on a keyboard? There is no one right way or one right place. The important thing is to write!