Greetings;
The late Lee Wyndom wrote in her book, WRITING FOR CHILDREN & TEENAGERS, “…an editor is like a roving reporter; neither knows precisely what he or she is looking for, yet recognizes it at once when confronted with it. Primarily, editors want stories that are fun to read. The chief business of fiction is to entertain the reader.”
Notice, she didn’t say anything about entertaining the writer. When a person writes as a hobby, it’s a world apart from serious writing. The latter requires a serious task-oriented plan including hours, days, months, and, yes, sometimes even years of hard work and a solitary and often lonely atmosphere in which to create. Many authors have spent time away from families and fun for weeks and even months at a time to fully concentrate on their work. Unless one possesses the genius of a Hemmingway, it’s improbable one can establish a believable plot, conflict, scene, etcetera when in the midst of a crowd, a loud television, or a crying child.
For today’s serious writer, it’s imperative to have a thorough knowledge of correct grammar, spelling, (don’t trust your computer for spelling check; it can’t tell the difference between words that sound alike and are spelled differently) sentence rhythm, (it reads smoothly) and the correct usage of vocabulary in the cultural scenes and persons you’re describing. Such knowledge is of prime importance in today’s publishing world because there are so few editors. Publishing companies no longer accept a story with numerous errors, even if the plot is unique, because they no longer have the staff available to “fix” it. It makes the job of writing more difficult for today’s writers because the manuscript needs to be critiqued on a local level before sending it out. Serious writers should belong to a writers’ group to receive those necessary critiques from writing peers. Otherwise, your mailbox will depressingly fill with rejection notes.
Also of prime importance is the use of dialogue to make one’s story come alive. To become proficient in that realm, one must actually listen to how people talk, along with noting their body movements while stressing a point. It’s a good idea to carry a small notebook or recorder with you at all times to makes notes on unusual happenings, scenery, and in-depth descriptions of peoples’ faces, attire, and personalities. Those jobs go far beyond the hobby of jotting down a childhood memory or writing a poem for someone’s birthday. Those projects are important, but are usually written to please a family member or friend, who will always compliment you. If such praise is enough for you, great, but if it isn’t satisfying, it’s time to work on your craft as a job by learning the tools needed for becoming successful in the published world.
Serious writing entails setting a specific time each day to write. Organizing a quiet place away from people and noise in order to concentrate, (one where you can keep your writing equipment out and ready for you) is imperative, and most importantly, inform family members of your serious intent.  You’ll no longer be as available to go shopping, mind other peoples’ children, and the like. If you are at a company workplace, people don’t expect you to leave your job for such efforts. Clock in and continue working until a break or lunch time. It will take some time for family and friends to adjust to your new “job”, but keep at it. Leave any guilt feelings about being “selfish” behind. People, who use the term on you, usually want only for you to continue helping them. Yes, it’s a big adjustment, but if you want it enough, you’ll persevere.
Finally, if the task seems over-whelming, all the more reason to join a writing group. They will support you and show you how to become a published writer.
Good luck and keep writing. Life is too short to let your dreams flounder and die because there was no foundation set under them. Until next Wednesday, be well. Linda

Greetings;
This week I’ve been working on a story for a writing contest. What makes it such an interesting mind teaser is that in a maximum count of 1200 words I need to detail a plot including a point-of-view character and his characteristics, set a clear scene, create conflict, and bring the whole thing to a reasonable and believable ending. Sounds like a normal story’s progression, but there’s a catch. The whole story must be completely dialogue. I’ve asked myself more than once since I began this tangled web of literature, “Don’t you have enough to do without straining your brain like this?”
When I was young, my dad saw me sitting reading a book, and because he didn’t feel it was a productive project on a farm, he remarked, “If you don’t have anything better to do, there’s a goat needs milking.” (I have to relate, however, that when I wrote him a twenty-three-page letter about our farm when I’d grown, he read it and cried.) The writing finally made a positive impact and what a great feeling. My answer to myself concerning the dialogue story was, “It’s a challenge, and I like challenges, so keep working.”
Although I normally write for children, this project is being written for adults, but while I’m writing, I’m thinking, it’s also a great exercise for children’s writers to become more accustomed to showing scene, time period, plot, and the like within the dialogue.
When a piece you’re working on becomes bogged down, or your brain wants a vacation from whatever, put the task (have a goat to milk?) or piece of writing aside for a day or so and try writing a short story for a child all in dialogue. Who knows; it might be fun. It certainly takes one’s mind away from sad situations. It’s a change of writing style and a challenge. I’ve finished my third draft and am finally feeling good about my eleven-hundred-eighty-five-words, entitled, “Midnight Mystery.” It isn’t due until May, so I’m putting it away for a few weeks. Then I’ll re-read it out loud to me and check for easy rhythm of the sentences and thoughts. I look forward to discovering whether it’s all right as is or if it will call me to write a fourth draft. Either way, I’ll take the time to make it right.
When writing for children, I try to make each character memorable-someone kids can identify with, and would enjoy talking to if they could. Studying good fiction shows me examples of strong, consistent viewpoints. I’ve learned so much about writing conflict and action sequences from great children’s authors. I want my young readers to be able to emotionally enter into a personal relationship with my characters, believing that what the characters are accomplishing is possible, and could happen in their own real lives. Keep in mind, editors aren’t going to buy stories where the characters only stand around thinking. Actionize them. (Is that a real word?)
Until next Wednesday, challenge yourself to do something unique. Be well. Linda

Greetings and happy St. Patrick’s Day on Thursday;
I’m writing this blog early because I am “absolutely Irish”—the saying taken from the front license plate on my car—and will be celebrating with Irish friends and all who enjoy singing Irish songs on Wednesday here in The Villages. Most years, my husband Jack and I spend the day in “Southie” (South Boston), but this year we’re in The Villages in Florida. (Near Ocala) There are over 80,000 residents, 55 or over, with more than forty golf courses and a hundred different clubs and sports activities to keep one busy. Their men and women’s softball leagues and cheerleaders have won state and national awards. The Irish-American and Massachusetts clubs are preparing for that special day with fun activities. Keep The Villages in mind if or when you turn 55.
Yesterday, a friend in the business world was speaking about the demise of bookstores as if it were an impending reality. He furthered his belief by noting Borders is closing all but thirty-five of their stores and the Barnes & Noble chain is not doing well either. He backed his claim by noting, “The kindle books and their like are killing the book world.” Is he right, or is he prognosticating much as business people did in the seventies when they insisted shopping malls would soon be a thing of the past. To back up their belief, those speakers spoke of rising gas prices(to a dollar) and the increasing amount of mail-order businesses sprouting up all over the country. Well, they were wrong. Just like the people sprouting doom and gloom about impending catastrophes when the calendar turned the century corner. They were wrong, too, and I believe the people who insist the book stores will ALL close are also wrong.
I was pleased to read in our latest “The Florida Writer’s” an editorial by its editor, Samuel Patrick Smith stating, “Corporations most recent financials reported an increase in sales of children’s books.. Not digital books, but the old-fashioned variety printed on paper and sold at school book fairs and through book clubs. Sure, young people have iPods, iPads, computers, and smart phones, and they text until their thumbs blister. But the experience of reading a magazine or book is different.”
Of course, each writer wants to believe him. A writer friend, not yet published, moaned, “It’s not fair! At least you already have books in stores.” I was about to protest that such an accomplishment included years of frustration with the powers that be, but I knew it wasn’t the real issue there, and chose to listen quietly. (as good friends do) She continued, “I’ve always dreamed of seeing my own book for sale in book stores, and now they’re saying it’s not going to happen? Come on!”
Talk about frustration.
I, for one, still prefer to hold a book in my hands, and when life intervenes, I don’t have to shut anything off. A book can be set down while I deal with life and like a faithful friend, it waits for me to return. Spending an hour surfing the net doesn’t present the same sense of peace that sitting quietly reading a book does for me.
And what happens when the electricity or batteries die? All those mechanical miracles grind to a halt. Not so with a book. It needs nothing but you. When I observe people reading a mechanical book, they don’t look as engrossed as someone “lost” in an actual book’s plot. When something occurs around them, their attention wanders as if they’re not really IN the story. There is something so soothing about settling into a comfortable armchair or chaise lounge with an actual book-in-hand. I don’t see that kind of involvement with mechanical book readers.
Until next week, be well and have fun. Linda

Greetings
As a writer I feel a responsibility to those who cannot write, and to readers and writers who are different from me—especially when they are children. Writers and poets are an important asset to society in that we can help a person to hear his or her unvoiced longings. However, we can’t do our work through good intentions alone. Hard work is necessary for success. Every serious writer has experienced the loneliness and isolation needed to create a productive work. The more we study the language of those we hope to reach or inspire, the better equipped we’ll be to understand a specific person’s culture, age, environment and how those aspects impact a person’s judgment, actions, and reactions.
Learning should never stop. On-going writing classes prepare us to present a story that is not only well written, entertaining, and thought provoking, but more importantly one whose thoughts will remain in a reader’s memory long after the initial reading.
It isn’t enough to satisfy our egos by publishing. Of course the publishing, itself, instills self-confidence, but it’s only the beginning. Once published, there is marketing to organize. Imagine and create your own unique book signing procedures and newspaper notices. Plan ahead for the distribution of your book to public venues such as book and toy stores.  Don’t forget to give one or two copies to your local library so all children can have access. Plan for and implement ad campaigns with original bookmarks and postcards designed through your own creative ideas. Those jobs can be organized on paper while you’re waiting for publishing confirmation. One author prepared a baggie for each attendee at her book-signing with tiny replicas of three pages of her next book, a colorful bookmark with her e-mail address and cost to purchase more books by mail, AND Hershey kisses. Those small bags were a big hit. The attendees went home with specific knowledge of how their friends or family could order that great, autographed book straight from the author.
Consider options of planning small book-signing parties for seniors, girl scouts, neighbors, friends, etc. Plan what food you might have available depending on the audience. The cost of fruit juices, coffee, tea, desserts, or even a fun wine party is worth the expense to attract paying customers.
Some of my small signings were held in local book and toy stores in surrounding towns on Saturday mornings from 11-1. Before the signing, I visited and arranged for positioning the table at the front of the store and on a good day, I sat outside. That pre-trip came about because I arrived at one children’s toy store and the table had been set up in the back of the store where nobody could see us. We sold three books. The average sales were a dozen and we were thrilled.
For one signing, I booked a large public room in a local restaurant one Sunday afternoon from two-four for my children’s book. I wasn’t charged a fee because I suggested the owner set up a bar and sell drinks to the adults. I advertised in three surrounding towns’ papers that refreshments would be served and children were welcomed, while noting the book’s targeted age group. We (you need a small working committee, whether they be your husband, children, or a friend who is creative with marketing your talents) decorated the room for children’s enjoyment. Lots of work went into that project, but it was a great success. We sold 125 books. The restaurant owner was thrilled because so many adults decided to stay and eat dinner when the signing was over. Two years later, we repeated the process with my next book, and the restaurant owner supplied the desserts. There are times like that when the business of writing is a joyous experience.
Until next week, be well. Linda

Greetings;
Writing a mystery in the 1,000-1500-word range for contests or magazine articles, geared for the middle-grade reader, can be challenging, but the “8-12-year-old” reader is a wide open market this year. Middle-grade readers are curious about everything, and self-discovery is major in their development as independent thinkers. They like reading about characters, who mirror similar actions and thoughts. That’s why it’s so important to observe today’s youth, their actions and interactions, choice of words, and what fuels their anger, frustrations, and elation.
A good mystery plot is one that keeps the reader trying to figure out where the story is heading. There must be clues, but not so many that the ending is obvious. Think of it as a puzzle that isn’t complete until the last piece is placed where it belongs. Integrate your clues into the story as if placing puzzle pieces into the blossoming picture, involving the reader enough to bring him or her right into the plot– the goal of every good mystery writer.
When the writer succeeds in drawing a reader’s attention away from the real world to become involved in the plot, it’s a great achievement. Seasoned writers have the ability to “take you along with them” as their main characters consider options, clues, and solutions to the mystery.
To make the reader feel a part of each scene, describe the area where the action is taking place. If a possible culprit hides a key in a desk drawer (clue) the room around that drawer should be described (shown) so the clue can be remembered, considered at a later date, and blended with other clues to come to a reasonable solution.
Common sense plays a big part when sending your mystery stories to a magazine. It’s most important to know the specific magazine’s audience. As foolish as it may sound, if you’re sending a story to Boys’ Life, there should be a male protagonist who plays according to the principals of the Boy Scouts. Of course, the other characters don’t need to follow “the rules” and seldom do. The whys of that negative character can be shown in such a way that in the end the main character and he can become friends. Girls will readily read stories about boys, (The Hardy Boys Mysteries) but boys seldom reciprocate when a girl is the main character so send those stories to a girls’ magazine.
If sending to Hopscotch Magazine, know that it’s geared to girls between the ages of 6 and 12, whose main character can solve her own problems and function on her own.
Before writing your story, study a myriad of story beginnings. Observe how the published writer shows the “hook”. The beginning should be explicit in its action and reasoning. How does each published writer use language to establish the plot? I’ve found the beginning of a story is the part I re-write most often for by the time the book is finished (the first time!) new characters may have emerged, new plots have been inserted, and sequences change. If your first paragraphs don’t spark a busy editor’s interest, she or he will probably assume the rest won’t either. I think the beginning should involve a context of characters, place, and/or historical time. It gives the reader something with which to immediately identify. Too many submissions take too long to get into the plot. The tension or excitement isn’t evident
Don’t fall into the trap of assuming the middle-grade age group is unsophisticated. Global information systems have established a firm network of in-depth knowledge about everything, and it needs to be reflected in your plot. Even the Nancy Drew books have been re-written to portray the advanced sophistication of today’s youth. Most of all, before you submit—even better, before you write the story—check through the last year or two’s issues of the magazine you wish to target. Observe the format, focus, and style of each published story. (I particularly notice the grammar used today, since many comma placings have disappeared.)
Finally, insert your clues and follow them through the plot to the end where all should either blend into a solution or be explained away. The old adage, “The butler did it,” tells who, but the ending must include the “why, how, and where” to be believable. Good luck.
Until next week, be well. Linda