Topic 13 Cleaning Up

                                                                               

Greetings, 

As I cleaned out the closets to see what I could toss the other day, I thought about all the writings I've done over the years, too many to count, and I realized not one story had ever been sent out in its original form. I cleaned them up, and cleaned them up, and then cleaned them up some more. It may have been because I was raised by a perfectionist, but I'd like to think it was because I wanted the story to be accepted.

These cleanups are what we writer's refer to as rewrites. They're a necessity. It's what makes our stories more compelling, more alive, and more cohesive. No story is perfect the first time it's put down on paper. So if someone tells you otherwise, don't believe them. All great writers  be it of poetry, novels, magazines, newspapers, or script writing have fine-tuned their stories until they can't stand doing it anymore. 

Think back to your high school or college days. Do you remember the wonderful essay assignments? Sitting hunched over your desk scratching out and changing things in your notebook as you went. Many classmates of mine visited the wastebasket several times. How about you? Why did we do all the rewrites? To impress our teachers and hopefully get a great grade, right?

Well, if we want our writing to be accepted by the public and publishers we still need to rewrite and rewrite till things smooth out and fall into place. You may even have to chuck a novel if rewriting doesn't help. It wasn't until after I completed a two year writing course that I realized my first book stunk. The gist of it survived, but most was rewritten.

As a freelance writer for a local magazine, I have deadlines to meet so I understand the pressure journalists and magazine writers are under. But you still need to rewrite before handing the article off, otherwise you do a disservice to yourself and the company you're writing for.

It's important for us as writers to read the story aloud after it's completed or as you go along. Many errors are caught by reading the work out loud, not just with your eyes. Even though you have someone proofreading your work, you need to go through it too. Proofreaders don't catch every single error.  

If you find you're too tired after writing your first draft to read the story aloud and proof it, take a break. Come back to your story with fresh eyes the next day. You'll be surprised what problems 

you discover. Then what do you do? Cleanup and rewrite.

Until Next Time

This is Marlene Chabot

www.marlenechabotbooks.com 

Topic 12 Exploring Topics

Greetings,
Summertime and fairs go hand in hand What's there not to like? Fairs offer food, rides, 4H displays, talent shows, animals, concerts, and much more. No matter what your age you'll always find something of interest at a state or county fair. For a writer it's also a great place to explore new story ideas.

Yesterday began the first day of our county fair where I live in Minnesota. As I strolled through the fair with friends, I was bombarded with topics for stories, be it non-fiction, science fiction, historical, romance, or mystery.

If you're a non-fiction writer you might explore the history of carnival rides or select one in particular, the Ferris Wheel. Research how the first fair came about and how it changed throughout the years. If your fair had a huge butterfly house to walk through or exotic animals on display you could write a short story specifically about them or about the current fair in general and submit the story to a local newspaper.

For a history buff (fiction and non-fiction), besides carnivals and rides piquing your interest at the fair, you might delve into animal husbandry, 4H, or discover the wealth of history in old buildings on display. Our fair offers two to go through: the first schoolhouse from the area and a log home. But something else we found just as interesting inside the Curling building, used for artwork displays during the fair, was a photographer giving a slide presentation on kayaking from the headwaters of the Mississippi River to Iowa. His talk spanned the earliest explorers discovery of the headwaters in Minnesota and the changes made along the Mississippi due to logging, paper mill industries, and dams.

Of course there's plenty of fair topics to explore for those of you writing fiction. Is Mary having an affair with Stan while they operate the barbecue food hut owned by Stan's father-in-law?  Can a monster from outer space be captured before he destroys the fair completely? Was the footlong hot dog to blame for Troy's untimely death or something more sinister? Who kidnapped the very talented sixteen year old member of a famous rock'n roll band right before she was to appear on stage?

Well, I hope the ideas I generated today stir your imagination this summer when exploring topics at your own county or state fair. If you wish to share other writing ideas, or a snippet of a fair story on my next blog in two weeks, please leave a comment on this blog site.

Until Next Time
This is Marlene Chabot