How to Make a Book Safe

The site is http://www.howtomakeabooksafe.com/ and it’s self-explanatory. Go and check it out. It has very clear instructions with great illustrations and tips for avoiding common mistakes.

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2013 in Review

The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2013 annual report for this blog.

Here’s an excerpt:

The Louvre Museum has 8.5 million visitors per year. This blog was viewed about 100,000 times in 2013. If it were an exhibit at the Louvre Museum, it would take about 4 days for that many people to see it.

Click here to see the complete report.

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FoxTrot Comic Strip for June 9th, 2013

FoxTrot is my favorite comic strip. It covers all the topics I enjoy–education, technology, writing, and family living.

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What First Readers Should Look For

On a recent podcast of Writing Excuses, specifically Season 8 Episode 17: Microcasting, Mary Kowal explained her process for using Alpha and Beta readers. There are many, many ways to do this but I found her method very instructive. Here are my notes:

• Alpha readers receive chapters one at a time, and stay about two chapters behind where Mary is currently writing her work-in-progress (WIP).
• Beta readers receive her WIP all in one chunk. They focus on the work as a whole. Mary asks them to essentially flag problems by identifying:
  • areas that Bore them,
  • areas that Confuse them,
  • things they don’t Understand,
  • things they don’t Believe, and
  • things that are Cool (so she doesn’t change them and remove the coolness factor).
• Editors, Agents, and other Industry Professionals see Mary’s WIPs only after going through this process so they can be in as final a state as possible.

In the podcast Mary promised to share a link to an external source and she did: Alpha-Reading by Laura A. Christensen. This excellent post details the things a writer needs to know from their readers:

1. Clarity.  Do you understand what is going on? Can you picture the setting and the characters in your head? Can you see where everyone is in relationship to each other?  Was the fight scene confusing? Is my word choice obscure?
2. Impact.  Was this part funny or did it fall flat?  Do you like these characters at this moment? Are you frustrated with them? Do you love them? Are you afraid? Is this intense? Are you bored? Do you wish you could stop reading? Do you feel like you’re there with the characters?  Was this part a tear-jerker or were you annoyed?  Was the ending satisfying or did I drop the ball?
3. Believability.  How are my characters’ reactions? Does this feel plausible to you?  Is this the way you handle a gun in your experience?  Do I need to do further research about xyz?  Does my fight scene feel real? Does this fit together and make sense?
4. Interest.  Does this fascinate you the way it fascinates me?  Are you hooked?  Is this too much detail or not enough?

All in all, this seems like sage advice. Thanks to both for sharing.

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Why every Christian Writer should study Esther

Disney Princess Lineup

I had a revelation tonight. I was thinking about the structure of my WIP and my thoughts drifted to my previous efforts at adapting the story of Esther. You see, Esther is a queen. My daughters love princess stories and Disney in particular has made billions on such stories.

So why hasn’t Disney released a princess movie about Esther? Ignoring the fact that she is a queen and not a princess, couldn’t the story be adapted to make it work?

And the answer…is no.

No. NO! It cannot be adapted! Neither Disney nor any other company will ever be able to use the story of Esther for their own purposes. It has always been and will remain a bible story.

But the intriguing part is why. And don’t be fooled. Disney has certainly tried. They were seeking adaptations for Rapunzel a decade or more before Tangled ever came out. And they finally did come out with a version of Rapunzel but Esther continues to elude them.

And here is the revelation. Esther can’t be adapted because the foundations of the story are built on Jewish culture and devotion to God. Neither component of the story can be removed or replaced without the whole story becoming a crashing house of cards.

This revelation in turn lead to a new understanding of what it means for a story to be labeled as ‘Christian’. I’ve blogged on this topic before but I’m not completely satisfied with my conclusions. Indeed, I never really came to any until tonight: If a story can have it’s Christian message removed or replaced then it isn’t really a Christian story. At least, not a strong one. We should all be writing strong Christian stories. We should all be crafting our stories in such a way as to make the biblical principles foundational, required for the story to be told.

And Esther is a fascinating story. Commentators have attempted to plumb the depths or the story for ages. But have any studied Esther as a model story? It’s plot-perfect in my opinion and has all the components to make it irresistible to readers: Kings, Queens, politics, opposing factions, dinner parties, deception, revenge, the threat of genocide, reversals, and even an Act III twist when the evil Haman is hung on his own gallows. The characters show a full range of emotions, gather information, and make life-altering decisions in an effort to escape the trap. Try reading it yourself for analysis and see if you don’t get sucked in.

The final point is that we should study Esther as a model for great biblical stories.

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How to use Dialogue Tags

We’ve all been there. Do you include the punctuation inside the quotes or outside? Where does the question mark go? Do I really need to use a dialogue tag?

So many suggestions and rules from very talented people. Some I’ve followed, but some I’ve ignored. The following are my rules and they work in every situation.

First, avoid using dialogue tags as much as possible because it’s true that you don’t need them. Second, I restrict myself to only three dialogue tags: said, asked, and the occasional exclaimed. Third, always structure the sentence so that the dialogue tag is on the inside, between the quote and the speaker regardless of which comes first.

With those restrictions, only nine combinations are possible. With help from the cast of the 1976 television series Alice, let’s explore them.

Pictured from the left: Flo, Alice, Mel, Tommy, and Vera

A. Dialogue Tag then QUESTION

• In a gravely voice Mel asked, “Alice, did you charge that guy for soup?”
• “Not yet.”
• “You make sure you do. This is a diner, not a soup kitchen.”

Use the dialogue tag ‘asked’ with a comma before the quote. Use a question mark before the closing quote.

B. QUESTION then Dialogue Tag

• “Alice, did you charge that guy for soup,”  asked Mel in a gravely voice.
• “Not yet.”
• “You make sure you do. This is a diner, not a soup kitchen.”

Use a comma before the closing quote then ‘asked’ as the dialogue tag. End with a period.

C. QUESTION Alone

• Flo interrupted. “Hey Mel?”
• “Yeah?”
• “Kiss my grits,” exclaimed Flo.

Use a question mark before the closing quote.

D. Dialogue Tag then STATEMENT

• Alice said, “I want Tommy to have a future.”
• “Doesn’t he like Phoenix,” asked Vera.
• “There aren’t a lot of opportunities besides driving a truck.”

Use the dialogue tag ‘said’ with a comma before the quote. End with a period inside the quote.

E. STATEMENT then Dialogue Tag

• “I want Tommy to have a future,” said Alice.
• “Doesn’t he like Phoenix,” asked Vera.
• “There aren’t a lot of opportunities besides driving a truck.”

Use a comma before the closing quote and ‘said’ as the dialogue tag. End with a period.

F. STATEMENT Alone

• In a gravely voice Mel asked, “Alice, did you charge that guy for soup?”
• “Not yet.”
• “You make sure you do. This is a diner, not a soup kitchen.”

Use a period inside the closing quote.

G. Dialogue Tag then EXCLAMATION

• Flo interrupted. “Hey Mel?”
• “Yeah?”
• She said, “Kiss my grits!”

Use the dialogue tag ‘said’ with a comma before the quote. Use an exclamation point before the closing quote.

H. EXCLAMATION then Dialogue Tag

• Flo interrupted. “Hey Mel?”
• “Yeah?”
• “Kiss my grits,” exclaimed Flo.

Use a comma before the closing quote and ‘exclaimed’ as the dialogue tag. End with a period.

I. EXCLAMATION Alone

• “Well, Sugar, I’d let you have the sandwich for free but…” said Flo gesturing behind her toward Mel.
• “You stow it!”

Use an exclamation point inside the closing quote.

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2011 in Review

The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2011 annual report for this blog.

Here’s an excerpt:

The concert hall at the Syndey Opera House holds 2,700 people. This blog was viewed about 34,000 times in 2011. If it were a concert at Sydney Opera House, it would take about 13 sold-out performances for that many people to see it.

Click here to see the complete report.

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