When in Doubt Leave it OUT!

There has been alot of talk around the boards and email groups about spacing after a period. Old school teaches two spaces. I, unfortunately, learned on a manual typewriter and can officially consider myself old school. I didn't realize I was doing myself such an injustice. Some editors actually state in their guidelines to single space after a period.

Fandangle Online Children's magazine states clearly in their guidelines:

Make sure that there is only one space between sentences.

It seems that the general feeling on this is to only use one space. I am going to take my official stand on the matter and say this:

When in doubt leave it out!

I Made The Finals!!!!

I am excited to announce that I made the finals in the ABC Picture Book Competition! They will be posting the results on the site soon! For those of you who are unfamiliar with the competition the next step is to have the story matched with an illustrator. In September they will post the stories and the illustration on their website for an online voting competition. A Picture Book "American Idol". The story with the highest amount of votes will win a publishing contract! Keep your eyes open for "Spider and Fly"!!!

Limbo

Have any of you heard of the online auction Limbo?
http://www.41414.com
You may wonder how this relates to writing...On this online auction, you have to be the lowest unique bidder to win. For example they are auctioning off a 42 inch TV. You can bid 20 times a day. So you start as low as you can and keep bidding until you get a number that noone else has gotten. You can bid as low as .01 or as high as 999.99. With every one bidding on this great item it isn't easy to get that unique bid. When you do though the reward is this amazing TV for a great price. One lady got a Mini Cooper for $50.43.

This isn't much different than writing. We are all bidding on the same thing. In this case it just happens to be a book contract. The ideas are like the prices on these auctions. Only we can use one through a million. The only problem is that every one bidding is pulling from the same resource pool we call life. The idea is not any different you want to get that unique bid. Not as easy as it might seem.

The idea, keep trying! That unique bid is out there and when you find it, it will be as exciting as getting a new car for $50.43!Remember the adage; to succeed you need 5% talent and 95% persistence!

Have A Great Writing Day!Sheri

Than vs. Then

If I write then revise will it be better than it was before? Or maybe I am supposed to write than revise to make it better then it was before? Once I get my rejection letter do I accept it or except it? Is it Neither nor or Either or?

I get so confused! Do you? I found a great site that has some fantastic word notes.

http://www.sparknotes.com/writing/style/topic_69.html

It is definitely worth checking out for all those little word issues.

She Stold My Idea!

Have you ever written something so brilliant that you beamed like a lighthouse? Just sure that you had written "the one". Only to happen on a story that is so similar you swear that your idea has been taken. Never mind the copyright for the similar story was given years sometimes decades before you wrote your first word!

Dear Mr. Henshaw by Beverly Cleary, 1984 Newberry Medal recipient, tells a story of a boy dealing with the separation of his parents through letters to his favorite author. His father, a trucker, used to talk about the shoes he would see on the highway. The family would play a game and make up songs about why the shoe was there.

Now, I haven’t written a story about a boy dealing with the separation of his parents through letters to his favorite author, however, the whole shoe thing was so totally my idea. (Please note the sarcasm in that last statement)

I pondered for days over a story about a boy who ate cinnamon on everything. (Inspired by my own son who insists cinnamon sugar belongs right next to the salt shaker) Surely this was an original idea; after all, how many kids eat cinnamon on their spaghetti? Well to my dismay at least one. While reading through Highlight’s Magazine short story collections I found a story: Cinnamon Spaghetti!

I guess the “moral” of the story is that there are a million stories out there. The chances of something being out there that is similar to yours are very likely. It is what you do to make yours original that will make you stand out above the rest.

Make it your own!

Have A Great Writing Day!

Writing Exercise

Do you find yourself telling more than you do showing in your stories? Here is an exercise I use to practise up on the art of showing.

Write the words: Has, Had, Is, Was, and Were at the top of a page.

Write about anything but do NOT use these words. If you want to say something like:

Jimmy was standing in line because he had to wait for the bathroom.

Try this:

Jimmy pranced from foot to foot. The line for the bathroom reached out to the playground. "Geesh!" he sighed. "I don't think I can wait."

If you're training to run a marathon you run every day until you build yourself up for the big race. Writing is no different; train yourself and soon showing will be second nature.

Happy Writing!