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Sunday, January 21, 2018

Top of mind chatting

cj Sez:  Saturday was the end of the ten-day on-line course on Story Arc taught by fellow SinC/Guppy writer/editor Ramona De Felice Long who did an OUTSTANDING job of leading me step by faltering step through the process.

Now I have a working synopsis and draft plot outline, even though I’ve written only “most” of the first act of one of my novels-in-progress. That’s a new experience for me because I’m a linear writer. I meander my way through the story, beginning to end, doing humungous editing as I go. Ergo, I’m more of a pathfinder than a plotter. Perhaps I’ve learned that plotting won’t diffuse the thrill of creating new conflicts for my characters. Perhaps this new skill will make me a faster writer. We’ll see.

If you’re a member of SinC/Guppy and ever have a chance to take one of Ramona’s on-line courses, I highly recommend it.
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I’m always looking for good sources of writing information, and C. Hope Clark’s Funds for Writers Newsletter is one of my favorites. Her newsletter has been on the Writer’s Digest’s 101 Best Websites for Writers list every year since 2000.  Hope has a free newsletter and a paid subscription version as well. Find out more here: http://fundsforwriters.com/newsletters/

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The latest addition to my to-be-read pile is a Western romance. Unfortunately I’m not reading very much so the stack will get taller for a while longer. My eye problem continues to interfere. I’m back to driving...no later than dusk…but the abundance of floaters in my eyes breaks up the words when I try to read a book. My writing has also suffered, until a friend recommended that I zoom more and use a dark page background with white letters. That’s working better. Not perfect, but better. Zooming is what got me through that Story Arc class.

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It's time for me to buy a laptop. I truly dislike having to work on one of those, but the main use for this one will be doing PowerPoint presentations. The good thing about that is I don’t need to get a super-duper model, because I won’t be keyboarding much.

Not being a techie, I need some advice: What kind of laptop would you recommend?
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Okay, you-all guys keep on keeping on, and I’ll try to do the same.

cj
Sponsors:
Great gifts for Valentine’s Day, and only 99 cents for a bundle of romance stories:
“Bad Day at Round Rock” a short romance in The Posse anthology
California Kisses—10 book publisher’s bundle @ 99 cents (includes Deadly Star)
The Great Outdoors  8 book publisher’s bundle @99 cents (includes Choosing Carter)
Bodies in Motion 10 book publisher’s bundle @99 cents (includes Choosing Carter)
Qrtly newsletter sign-up at cjpetterson@gmail.com

2 comments:

  1. You're right. Your first sentence would make Faulkner happy. Sounds like a great class on story arc.

    ReplyDelete
  2. cj Sez: Yeah, me and Faulkner. We don't know when to quit. Thanks for stopping by.

    ReplyDelete

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