T h e C o u n t r y A u t h o r

How do you get people to post comments to your blog?

Linda — Fri, 30 Mar 2012 03:02:35 +0000

How many bloggers ask this question? Perhaps the hundreds who post what they feel are helpful and interesting articles only to find it hasn’t generated any comments (the non-spam kind).

I’m raising my hand here. Yes, I’m one of those.

I’ve set up my blog so that posts automatically show up on Twitter and Facebook. You’d think it would do the trick. I once thought so, but apparently it doesn’t help. There must be something I’m not doing right. If any of you are watching … hello? Are you out there?

Please comment and share your insight. I’m sure I’m not the only one who would love to see a few non-spam comments.

Writer’s Block

Linda — Tue, 27 Mar 2012 02:50:12 +0000

Writer’s Block. That dreaded condition authors fear. It strikes without warning and can linger for weeks, sometimes months, and yes … even years.
I’m in the recovery stage of a long bout of this terrible ailment.
People often ask why I haven’t finish my latest book and when I say I have “writer’s block”, they get confused. I’m compelled to explain it, but it’s not an easy thing to do. You see, most writers aren’t able to put a finger on the cause. The stress of daily living can trigger it, but then most of us write as a way to relax. Writing is therapeutic for many of us, so a traumatic event can’t always be blamed. For me, it came on rather suddenly and to this day I’m not sure what caused it. All I know is I would sit in front of my computer only to find myself staring at the screen, devoid of any desire to write.
The only explanation I can give would be of a spiritual nature. Since I write because God gave me the wherewithal to do so, then He can cause my ability and desire to cease. This may sound bad, but it really isn’t. The Lord knows what we need and when we need it and I believe I needed to have some down-time. We all do no matter what we are called to do. Sometimes it’s impossible or not practical to take nearly a year off like I did (has it really been a year?), but every occupation out there allows for time off. Pastors take sabbaticals, missionaries leave the field to re-group, and teachers enjoy most of the summer off (sometimes).
And authors get writer’s block.
This is because most of us get so carried away, we can’t tell when it’s time to step back from our work and relax a while. It took a year for me to realize this.
Now I’m back and it feels good. Now, having learned a good lesson, I know to do things a bit different this time. I will keep up with what I’m committed to do (i.e. critiques) and will allow a time of rest between writing my own chapters in order to “re-group”. I also will take the time to learn–really learn–the writing craft. I’m a S.O.T.P. writer, after all.
Tell me about your experience with writer’s block. I know you have one. If not, how did you avoid it? Come on, tell us your secret. We need to know!

New Toys vs. Junk

Linda — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 22:43:11 +0000

Why is it parents spend hundreds of dollars on toys, gadgets, and other play things only to find their children seem to be more entertained by boxes, empty shampoo bottles, and other junk?
Just the other evening while in the bath, my young one set up shop on the rim of the tub and announced to me she had items for sale. I walked in and saw the neatly arranged offerings. There was the empty hair conditioner container, a mayonnaise jar cap, and a broken pony tail elastic. Also available for purchase was a miniature garbage dumpster key fob, sports water bottle as well as a metal spring attached to a plastic thingy, an empty pain reliever container, and a tic-tac dispenser. All this for a nominal amount of imaginary money. I thought it was cute and even though my little one ain’t so little anymore, I’m glad she uses her imagination and takes delight in getting clean.
I must mention Miss M had a fruitful Christmas and she truly appreciates the gifts she received. She’s always been the grateful type. Even as a toddler, she took the time to open the card before opening the box and would insist the card be read first. Then, after carefully–and I mean carefully–unwrapping a gift and meticulously removing the object from its box or bag, she made sure the giver was thanked and due attention paid before going on to the next package.
God has taught me a lot through my daughter. Patience for one thing, but more importantly He shows me what it means to have a grateful heart. To take delight not only in the expensive gifts given to us, but also the simple and humble treasures we often take for granted.
While I may not give another thought to tossing an empty plastic shampoo bottle in the recycle bin, my heart will forever skip a beat when I survey the collection of “junk” covering the bottom of the bathtub.

Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts. And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.
Colossians 3:15-17

New Year’s Resolutions

Linda — Mon, 02 Jan 2012 06:04:20 +0000

I sat across from a friend at the local diner today who asked if I had any New Year’s resolutions. I told her I haven’t had any in a few years. Rather, I try to tackle things as they come up instead of saving them. Seems like a wise way of living, doesn’t it? Especially if you struggle with procrastination like I do. Yet, I couldn’t argue with my friend’s response to my comment, “But New Year’s resolutions are fun.”
Fun? I suppose they are.
The tradition of taking the time to list your resolutions for the coming year is nothing more than setting goals, which is a healthy thing to do. If you want to accomplish something, goal-setting is the first step. Talk to any successful person and they’ll tell you the same thing. However, the difference between success and the typical New Year’s resolution is resolutions are easily tossed aside. So what if you didn’t start that diet or gave up reality TV?
Still, New Year’s resolutions can be a hoot. Go ahead and make that list and see how many you actually act upon. Some people may never set goals other than at the close of each year. It’s better than nothing and can likely lead to the habit of serious goal-setting.
Okay, I think I talked myself into having New Year’s resolutions again. The top of my list would be to spend more time in God’s Word. Putting the Lord first causes a chain-reaction of everything else falling into place. Of course, life happens the way He wants it, not us. Which brings me to number 2 on the list: accept God’s will … cheerfully. Not always an easy thing to do.
These first two resolutions I plan not to dismiss as I would starting a diet or watching less TV as they are the essence of living a Christian life. To be honest, these are things I strive to do better throughout the year and not just on January 1st.
What are your New Year’s resolutions? Please share!

I find it funny …

Linda — Sat, 22 Oct 2011 19:29:05 +0000

… how I wrote about the issue of time–holding onto it, making the best use of it, and not getting it back once it’s gone. Back then, I thought I didn’t have enough of it in order to do all the things I needed (or wanted) to accomplish. At the time, I worked 3.9 hours a day. I had at least four hours of time to myself, sometimes more. Did I really think I needed more of it? Looking back, I don’t see what I had to complain about.
Last August, two weeks before school started, I was asked to take a new position in the school office which meant more hours. I was delighted. This change meant more money in my family’s coffers and a nice change of scenery. Call me crazy, but I love office work. Though I miss not seeing the students as much as before, I’m loving my new job. But at the same time, I’m struggling with the challenge of not having the time for all the things I took for granted not so long ago.
I miss my leisurely trips to town 30 miles away to grocery shop and cruise the isles of Walmart.
I miss working out in the yard for a good three hours and still have time to take a shower before picking my daughter up from the after-school program.
I miss visiting friends and family who live far away on Facebook.
I miss writing.
I haven’t even looked at my current manuscript in weeks … no, months.
But I see things looking up. There’s been a new development at work. The superintendent informed me the school office will close at 1 pm on Wednesdays since it’s minimum day. I never thought I’d be so happy to have a mere four extra hours in a week. On top of that, they had me leave at noon last Monday and Tuesday.
I had so much fun on those days clearing off the top of desk at home, cleaning out a closet, taking a bunch of stuff to Salvation Army, and enjoying a leisurely trip to town.
Maybe next week I’ll do some writing.

Until next time,

Making some changes …

Linda — Fri, 22 Jul 2011 01:19:02 +0000

After chatting about blogs with a fellow Christian author, I came to the conclusion that my own blog would be more effective and relatable if I switch the focus from teaching to simply sharing my journey as a writer, mom, and small-town gal. I don’t consider myself an authority on the writing craft and see no harm in sharing what I know with others, yet I find myself struggling with the fact that some may balk at my wanting to teach. When I started this blog less than a year ago, I was excited about the things I had been learning. There’s so much to know and since I felt overwhelmed at times, I knew other emerging authors felt the same. I wanted to reach out to them.

As I explore blogs authored by other individuals, I’m discovering the most successful sites are those whose owners are sharing more of themselves, their lives, and their ambitions. They write about the everyday happenings within the walls of their homes or the boundaries of the towns in which they live. The ups-and-downs of living grace their pages and come alive, they make us think, they make us laugh. Sometimes they even make us cry.

I want a blog like that!

I’m pushing aside the self-induced notion that my life isn’t exciting enough to write about. What I consider mundane, someone else may find new and exciting. Like the pretty green frog I discovered in one of my flower pots. Big deal, right? I live out in the sticks and see my share of frogs, but this one captured my attention enough to run inside the house to retrieve my camera. This little guy was special. Why? Because I didn’t notice him at first because he blended so well with the leaves of the petunia. When I finally noticed him, he didn’t look real. I watched him for a moment, marveled at his beauty, and thanked God for creating him. He’s just a simple frog, but I found him new and exciting.

Maybe my simple, mundane life can be new and exciting too.

We all have something to offer. God created each and everyone of us special and He tossed the mold after He made us. If today’s post accomplishes one thing, I hope it would be that you will realize your unique qualities. What you may consider boring and unattractive, someone else will find new and exciting. There’s a pretty green frog waiting to be discovered.

Maybe I should have titled this post “Pretty green frog”.

Until next time,

Time

Linda — Thu, 16 Jun 2011 21:31:52 +0000

Oh, to live in a world without time. To sleep when I’m tired and to wake when I’m completely rested with no regard to time.
There is no such world.
From the moment we’re born, time is officially recorded and our existence is forever measured in days, weeks, months, and years. We simply can’t escape time. Everything we do is influenced by when and for how long we spend doing it.
Time is precious.
Once it’s gone, we can’t get it back. While we wish we had more of it, we continue to waste it. One of the most important lessons we need to learn is how to best use the time allotted us. Time for ourselves, time for friends, time for charity, time for labor, time for family, and above all, time for God.
In order to use our time wisely, we must learn to say “no”. This has been a hard lesson learned for me. It took a bad case of stress and near melt-down for me to realize I needed to let go of a few things. Let me tell you, it’s not easy. By nature, we want to please and we don’t like letting people down. But there are only so many hours in a day and only so much energy our bodies can put out. We need our rest. I wasn’t getting much.
Things started to suffer in my life. I quit writing–something I dearly love to do. I started to resent things, even church. Not a good thing. The weather didn’t help. Here in the Northern California foothills, last winter was long, cold, and wet. Normally I like winter, but this year it really got to me. I lacked energy, motivation, patience, and heart.
Finally, it hit me. Or rather, the Lord did. In His gentle, subtle nature, He told me to let go. Let go of the things that weren’t building me up as a Christian and in turn, building up others around me. Slowly, I resigned from positions causing the most stress. When another expired, I gladly bid it farewell without looking back. I took stock of what was most important spiritually, emotionally, and physically. God comes first, I reminded myself, so I asked Him for guidance. I should have done this a long time ago. Time once again played a factor and I let it slip by. Thankfully, with God, time is not an issue. We can come to Him as we are, whenever we want. He’ll wait for as long as it takes and will take us to Himself, no questions asked.
I’m still working on making the best use of the time given to me. The long, cold winter of lost time has past and now the summer looks bright and hopeful. I’m even posting in my blog again.
It’s good to be back.

Self Publishing vs. Traditional Publishing

Linda — Wed, 16 Feb 2011 07:30:48 +0000

There’s been a lot of discussion lately regarding self publishing and whether or not it’s a viable option over traditional publishing. When I entered the market a few years ago, most people I encountered in the business looked down on self-publishing. The mindset was that it lacked creditability, so much so that most brick and mortar stores wouldn’t even discuss shelving a self-published book. Now the pendulum seems to be swinging the other way.

There are a few authors meeting with great success with their self-published works and the industry is taking notice. Is the over-looked author finally getting the attention he deserves even though the traditional publishers wrote him off as unworthy? Will the gifted writer whose been told by her agent the market isn’t ready for her book experience victory at last?

What do you think? I’d love to hear from you.

The Anatomy of Writing

Linda — Wed, 02 Feb 2011 03:19:19 +0000

Muscles, bones, and organs make up the human body. In order to maintain health and vigor, these elements must work together right down to the cells. If one cell fails to act normally, the entire body is affected. A manuscript—composed of words, sentences, and chapters—can be viewed in the same way. If the wrong words are used, or sentences not structured properly, the entire story will suffer.

To create a novel pleasing to the eye of a reader, each part must be correctly implemented so that it complements the whole. Using the right words in the right sentences in the right chapters keeps our writing organized and professional. This is what makes our writing “creative”.

As I embarked on my writing career, I didn’t know about some of the key ingredients necessary to create a sound manuscript. It didn’t help that I never took a creative writing class. I pretty much learned by trial and error, which is okay if you don’t mind taking a few chances and risk walking away with egg on your face. I feel like I did just that with my first novel. While many of my readers never mentioned the mistakes I’ve made, a few did and that’s all it took. I began to look at myself as a terrible writer and questioned my calling in life. Fortunately, I’ve since learned a few things about writing and met some authors who have mentored me. God used these great people to remind me what I’m meant to do. Now I’m excited to carry on with my mission to inspire others with the written word, and believe me, I’m not going to make those same mistakes again.

Here are some of the key elements we need to consider. They are the bones, muscles, and organs of writing:

GRAMMAR

It’s hard to know where to start in listing everything it takes to write well, but I’ll start with what we’ve all learned in English 101: proper grammar. A good resource I like to use is the Guide to Grammar and Writing. This site covers everything from adjectives and adverbs to prepositions and pronouns. It also offers helpful advice regarding punctuation, sentence structure, and vocabulary.

VOLCABULARY

The English language contains thousands upon thousands of words, and the population in general utilizes only a fraction of these. I love exploring words and one of my favorite tools is the thesaurus. Our writing can go from mundane to glorious with just a simple word change. Take, for example, a humble word like “thing”. The thesaurus in my MS Word program has a rather large list of words to replace it. Object, article, item, entity, and gadget are a few of the synonyms on the menu. Wouldn’t one of these words be more colorful to use instead of “thing”?

PUNCTUATION

Periods, commas, dashes. These small, seemingly insignificant marks can make a huge impact if used correctly—or incorrectly. We all know when to use a period—I hope, but when it comes to commas, dashes, and those lovely three dots, well, it’s not so clear-cut.

SENTENCE STRUCTURE

Good sentence structure will keep your writing tight and help you avoid run-on sentences, too many words, and confusion. I read an article recently that talked about “weasel words” . These are words that are often used but should be omitted.

PARAGRAPHS

Paragraphs, when properly implemented, gives the readers a short rest between thoughts, action, and dialogue. Avoid long-winded paragraphs, and learn to use short, stand alone paragraphs (single sentences) to add a nice beat to your scene.

SCENES

Most authors use POV (point of view) to begin and end a scene. A new scene can also develop from a change in scenery/location.

Here’s a good article by Brandilyn Collins that will help you produce sound paragraphs and scenes.

CHAPTERS

When to begin and end a chapter can be quite tricky. Some authors will devote a chapter to one character. Everything within a chapter will be in her POV. Chapters are also divided by a location, goal, or conflict in the story and will include several POVs.

NOW FOR THE CONNECTIVE TISSUE, NERVOUS SYSTEM, AND BLOOD VESSELS:

This is what keeps all the parts from floating around inside the body, allows the brain to talk to the parts, and keeps everything nourished. I’m talking about characters, their goals and motivation, and the stuff that prevents them from getting what they want, in addition to the setting the character finds him or her in.

CHARACTERS

Characters, whether POV or secondary, gives a story substance. When a novel has strong characters a reader can connect with, they’ll keep turning the page. Characters without, well, character, don’t hold water. They sink and take the story along with them.

GMC = GOAL, MOTIVATION, AND CONFLICT

These are the elements that give your characters a reason for being there (in the story). They keep the story flowing while maintaining a reader’s interest. Every main character needs a goal and a motivation that keeps them striving to meet that goal. There also needs to be conflict (or disaster). Something that happens that knocks the character off his path and keeps him from attaining the prize.

CSD = CONCRETE SENSORY DETAIL

CSD adds flavor to an otherwise dull scene. Concrete refers to the specifics. Instead of saying: She drove up in an older model car, you could say: She drove up in a fire-engine red 69 Camaro. Sensory refers to our five senses: sight, smell, touch, hearing, and tasting. If you weave these throughout your scene, it’ll come alive for your reader. Detail refers to the small things we might notice about someone or something that better connects the reader to the setting or character. Linda Clare wrote a great article that explains CSD and gives examples showing how to implement it.

SETTING

This is where and when a scene takes place. The nature of the setting as well as the era will have an impact on how the character acts and the conflicts she encounters. Setting is not limited to a place, but also includes conditions such as weather, amount of light, etc. Think of a cold, dark room as apposed to a light and airy one. Each condition gives off a totally different vibe.

If I left out anything (I’m new at this, remember?), feel free to add it by leaving a comment. I welcome everyone’s feedback and I’m sure others will appreciate it, too.

Finding a Genre that’s Right for You

Linda — Thu, 27 Jan 2011 00:57:22 +0000

Author Shirley Kiger Connolly has one of my articles featured in her blog today. If you’re confused about which genre to write it, you might want to check it out. Click on the image below to visit her blog and scroll down to the article dated 1-26-2011.