Question for Readers

Source: Mudgee Guardian

I've a question to ask of my international (particularly US) blog readers... Do you know what touch football is?

The characters in my current ms play mixed (as in guys and gals) touch football. I know it's an Aussie game that developed from rugby league, and I know it's now played around the world, including the US. But will readers know what it is?

I don't explain the game in my story, and my critique partners are worried overseas readers won't understand, that readers will associate it with lingerie football or gridiron, or even soccer.

It's something I always struggle with - what do international readers know? I don't want to treat my future readers like idiots and spell everything out, but at the same time I don't want them scratching their heads, or misinterpreting something, because I didn't explain.

A lot of the time I use context, or actions to demonstrate meaning. But in this instance, there are references made to touch footy a number of times before anyone is actually on the field. And it's a bit hard to use context or action to show meaning if they aren't actually playing.

This is a tricky one and I really need to know what *you* know before I worry about how to explain it in my ms.

I'd love to hear your answers. Remember to tell me the country you're from in your comment. Thank you!

Pomodoro

For a number of years now I've worked out the best way for me to write is in short bursts. I try and do 45 minutes BIC (bum in chair) then 15 minutes away from writing - preferably out of the chair. As there is always housework to be done I'll often do that for the break. And lets be honest, knowing it's only 15 minutes of housework makes it tolerable *grin*.

The other day I was reading another blog (sadly I now can't remember which one) and the author talked about how the Pomodoro technique had really helped their writing efficiency. Intrigued I looked into it and discovered I had been Pomodoring all this time!

Developed by Francesco Cirillo the Podomoro technique is essentially a time management skill where a timer is used to focus work into short sprints (his method recommends 25 minutes) followed by a short break. He called it Podomoro after a tomato-shaped timer he used to time his work.

For me this technique works brilliantly. I can stay focused for 45 minutes knowing I get a break after that - and the deadline pushes me to have something to show for it.

Have you hear of the Podomoro technique? Does it work for you or are you willing to give it a try? I'd love to hear others experiences with it.

Friends in My Computer

Writers are by nature solitary creatures. I sit at home in my office by myself and have no regrets about not being in an office full of people. But I do love being connected to my writing friends. Trouble is, they are scattered around the country. Thanks to the marvels of modern technology (and skype) I can see my friends and chat, brainstorm and sprint with them. My family are used to me talking to my computer.

Do you stay in touch with friends and family this way as well?

Source: Photobucket

Opening Sentences

Thursday, March 17th, I spent the morning in anxiety, the afternoon in ecstasy, and the evening unconscious. 

"Risk" by Dick Francis

In defense of Althalus, it should be noted that he was in very tight financial circumstances and more than a little tipsy when he agreed to undertake the theft of the Book. 

 "The Redemption of Althalus" by David and Leigh Eddings

Mr and Mrs Dursley, of number four, Privet Drive, were proud to say that they were perfectly normal, thank you very much. 

 "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone" by JK Rowling

I'd never given much thought to how I would die - though I'd had reason enough in the last few months - but even if I had, I would not have imagined it like this.

 "Twighlight" by Stephenie Meyer

I love first sentences. To be drawn in from the first few words is something I look for in a book. The above 4 examples are all written by some of the world's most successful authors, and all are favourites of mine. But I've never really thought about these sentences. What draws my interest? When I started to consider it I realised they all do the same thing:

• they all introduce something about the characters - and in all but the Harry Potter example, the main characters
• they all make me ponder a question - What could cause such a range of emotions in one day? What is the Book and why would Althalus not agree to steal it unless he was tipsy? Why would you need to be able to say you were normal, let alone be proud of it? How was she dying if it wasn't something you could imagine?
• by making me ponder a question I have to read on to find my answer (they immediately captured me)
• they are all 'different', original openings
• they are all simple - simple language and simple ideas 

Do you have a favourite first sentence?

New Look

It's been quite a while since I gave my blog a clean-up and I decided why not take it one step further and renovate. A new look to more closely reflect my writing.

I write cozies with a touch of romance featuring a sassy female heroine. Of course she couldn't solve the mystery without some help from her friends :)

What do you think of the new look?

Left Brain versus Right Brain

For years scientists have said there is a difference between the functions of our right and left hemisphere's in our brains. As the text in the image below says...

LEFT:
I am the left brain. I am a scientist. A mathematician. I love the familiar. I categorise. I am accurate. Linear. Analytical. Strategic. I am practical. Always in control. A master of words and language. Realistic. I calculate equations and play with numbers. I am order. I am logic. I know exactly who I am.

RIGHT:
I am the right brain. I am creativity. A free spirit. I am passion. Yearning. Sensuality. I am the sound of roaring laughter. I am taste. The feeling of sand beneath bare feet. I am movement. Vivid colours. I am the urge to paint on an empty canvas. I am boundless imagination. Art. Poetry. I sense. I feel. I am everything I wanted to be.

I am a scientist but I am also a writer. Because of this I've always found it hard to switch between the analytical and creative when writing for work versus writing fiction. So the explanation that the two hemispheres of our brain are wired differently has always made perfect sense to me.

However, a new study suggests this thinking is actually wrong. That the two hemisphere's are cross-wired and it is activity dependant and not wholistic as first thought.

If that's the case, I wonder why I struggle so much with the switch from the science to the creative? Does anyone else have this problem?

Conference Countdown...

This time in 5 weeks I'll be in Fremantle, Western Australia for the Romance Writers of Australia conference. This close and I'm starting to cycle through a whole range of emotions:

• excitement - at seeing my friends
• nerves - at how my pitching will go
• happiness - at some down time from the family
• sadness - at some down time from the family
• stress - at getting everything ready in time (home and work)

But overall I can't wait for conference to get here. I've enjoyed every conference I've attended; this will be my 5th. Conference is like a shot in the arm. I've never needed motivation, I have that in spades, but conference gives me a renewed sense of belief that I will succeed.

I can't wait. What about you?

The Ins and Outs of Our Characters

I saw a fascinating youtube clip by Dove this week (see below). They had a forensic artist sketch women using the woman's own description and then again using the description of someone who had just met them. All the women saw themselves much more critically than the strangers did. Probably not surprising.

But it made me realise that when I write my characters I have to remember to give them their inner-self and outer-self. That is, my heroine will see the small mole on her cheek or the slight creases near her eyes - but will see them as overwhelming her face. A stranger will see the hint of a laugh around her mouth, the pink on her cheeks and the curl in her hair. Both these views will affect how the characters act and think.

Watch this video. How do you perceive yourself? I'm sure that I would have the same reaction as these ladies...

Motivational Monday

This manuscript of yours that has just come back from another editor is a precious package. Don't consider it rejected. Consider that you've addressed it 'to the editor who can appreciate my work' and it has simply come back stamped 'Not at this address'. Just keep looking for the right address.

~ Barbara Kingsolver ~

Motivational Monday

I think I am starving for publication: I love to get published; it maddens me not to get published. I feel at times like getting every publisher in the world by the scruff of the neck, forcing his jaws open, and cramming the mss down his throat -- 'God-damn you, here it is - I will and must be published.'

You know what it means - you're a writer and you understand it. It's not just 'the satisfaction of being published.' Great God! It's the satisfaction of getting it out, or having that, so far as you're concerned, gone through with it! That good or ill, for better or for worse, it's over, done with, finished, out of your life forever and that, come what may, you can at least, as far as this thing is concerned, get the merciful damned easement of oblivionn and forgetfulness.

~ Tom Wolfe ~