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A Chicago area girl born and bred, I've lived in Mississippi, Montana, Michigan, and...ten years in the wilds of northeastern Indiana, where I fought the noble fight as a book editor. Now, I'm back in Illinois once more...for good. (At least I intend to make it that way!)

Friday, November 18, 2016

What He Said.

Why I am an entrepreneur at heart:

http://www.stevepavlina.com/blog/2006/07/10-reasons-you-should-never-get-a-job/

(Which is good, considering the lack of people pounding down my door to hire me!)

Time to up the income scale...
Janny

Frankly, My Dear, I Don't Give a Sh*t

You know, sometimes you dodge a bullet.

A potential client on Upwork had a business book he wanted editing on...about how to keep Millennials happy in your workplace.

You know. How to keep a raft of recent college graduates endlessly entertained, affirmed, praised, and rewarded for basically not PRODUCING anything yet...but they will. Oh, boy! They will! Just ask them about what they're gonna do for you...

...as long as you can keep them engaged with your enterprise for long enough.

While I understand that this, unfortunately, IS the work force that many companies are facing--I found myself reading this guy's tips on how to keep these kids on board, and thinking, "Why in the world do you want to work so hard KEEPING these prima donnas? That's just enabling a delusion at your company's expense."

And that's what it is, ladies and gentlemen. 
In the mental-health and recovery professions, we call aiding and abetting someone in their illness "enabling" them. You clean up the drunk's messes, you call and make excuses for the drug-addict kid, you coddle and protect and shield, because obviously, they're only screwing up their lives and the lives of everyone around them because they were Underloved In Some Important Way and We Have To Make Up To Them For It.

Hogwash.

Mental illness is an illness. It needs cauterizing and treatment, not coddling. Yes, it hurts. Lots of things do. But the light at the end of the tunnel is worth going through the healing process to get to.
Drug and alcohol abuse is an illness, but it's also a behavioral DECISION. (At some point or other, you take that first drink or you smoke that first weed. Yes, YOU do it. No one forces you to.) And it needs correction, not cooperation. Accountability, not accommodation. 

Same goes for the mental illness rampant in the Millennial generation's members who believe the world owes them a living, full-blown, luxurious, and debt-free, FROM DAY ONE.
And yes, they'd like it on a scale better than Mom and Dad's, too, thanks. 
Um. No.

If you're sitting behind your desk at the factory wondering how you're going to keep kids like THIS employed at your firm...stop wasting your time and energy.
Because it IS a waste. And worse, it's contributing to the perpetuation of a mental illness.
It's called being delusional.
And the sooner you can STOP catering to it, the sooner it'll get cured.

But if you maintain that you somehow have to change the way YOU do business so that these kids will be motivated to stick around?
Um. No.
Trust me. They won't. The moment someone dares to shatter their "safe place" or fails to reward their special uniquenesses, they'll walk anyway.

Which is where the title of this post comes from. Because, frankly, you shouldn't care if they do. There are plenty of other able and willing hands out there to take their places.

Don't kowtow, wheedle, or try to appease these spoiled specimens. Set them free. You'll be doing them a service.
You'll be enabling them to discover that $7 an hour jobs are plentiful out there for people with no other options, as well as realizing that eating and indoor living cost money...money OTHER people are willing to sacrifice and work hard to get.

Between those two insights, they might come to their senses and understand, finally, that it's not up to The World to cater to THEM...but the other way around.
And THEN, they might be staff members worth keeping. Because they'll actually understand that they need to show up, and be on time, and keep their mouths shut, and learn a few things, BEFORE they'll get that corner office.

Then, you'll have great people to work with.
But until then, please, stop bending over and inviting these special little snowflakes to kick you again.
It's not doing any of us ANY favors.
And that behavior certainly doesn't deserve an owner's manual to encourage ANYONE to perpetuate it.

Thoughts?
Janny



Tuesday, August 09, 2016

Does Anybody Actually Work Anymore?


OK, you may think I'm being a little facetious here...
But as a freelancer, I notice things like big influxes of job listings, or big SLOWDOWNS in activity. And patterns in same.

Awhile back, I posted on social media about how things seemed to "shut down" about noon on Thursdays. From a fairly brisk pace beforehand, it seemed like clients were getting ready to power down for the weekend...shall we say...rather early. I'd see regular traffic, and then it would get sparser and sparser, bit by bit, as Thursday afternoon edged toward Thursday evening.

NOW, however, the ebb is starting on WEDNESDAYS.

And this week...I'm starting to wonder if anyone's working at all in any offices, anywhere, during the month of August. Because things have gone from fairly respectable streaming to a trickle to, now, a DRIP.

(This is not a comment on the quality...merely the quantity. :-) )

So there must be a secret I don't know about as to how people are paying their bills when they increasingly DON'T DO A LICK OF WORK PAST LUNCHTIME ON TUESDAY.

Um...
Could someone fill me in, please?

I need a job that pays like that!

Thoughts...?
Janny

Thursday, June 23, 2016

I Know It's Breaking All The Rules...and Going Against (What Could Sound Like) Good Advice...

...but I can't be anything other than what I am. Which is, FIRST, a Catholic.
All the other terminology, including "writer," comes second to that.
And I'm very public and very unapologetic about it.

When you're searching for clients, hoping to put work together, and trying to do things that "don't offend" people, you don't take stands like I take.
Some folks will come right out and tell me this is career suicide.

And they could be right.

On the other hand, ETERNAL suicide is not something I'm interested in courting. So if it comes down to a choice, guess which way I'm going to choose?

If there are any employers or potential clients out there who are put off by a public stand...
...who don't agree with what I say, believe, and profess...
...and who won't hire me because of it...
...yes, that may cost me a few bucks.

But what it'll cost YOU could be far more.
So I "yam what I yam," and that's not going away.
Ever.

Just so's we're clear. :-)

Onward and upward,
Janny

Wednesday, June 15, 2016

How to Shoot Your Credibility to Hell in 3...2...

Yet another wonderful (!) encounter with Clueless Movie Script Writers.

Was watching a Lifetime movie the other day called YOU MAY NOW KILL THE BRIDE. Now, before you crucify me for watching Lifetime movies at all, it must be said--some of them aren't bad. True, some of them tend to be a bit predictable, a bit too angsty, or a bit too soap-oper-y to be realistic--but, on the other hand, there's nothing like a tall glass of wine and a good escapist movie to relax with after spending a day at the keyboard, wrestling with a cat, and lifting 160 pounds in the gym. 

Right?

So...I'm watching this. It's creepy. Psychotic chick, has a crush on her stepbrother to the point where she literally destroys all his relationships. Even killed a former fiance on the wedding day. And she plans to kill the latest one, too. Worms her way into the wedding, sabotages pretty much everything, then threatens bride and groom to be with a knife, gets hauled away because she's Off Her Meds, etc.

Fast forward to happy wedding day, except, of course, it isn't...because somehow, Ms. Psycho is OUT of the hospital now and has managed to hide herself in the bridal chamber, where she's going to kill the bride. Puts the bride underwater, dresses in a wedding gown, shows up in front of the preacher, etc. Of course, the bride manages to live through it all, as does her groom, even though Ms. Psycho actually stabs HIM in the course of the struggle. And somehow manages not to drown in a bathtub, even though the bride holds her underwater for something like 2 minutes while said bride is fighting to get the psycho's hands off her throat.

This is AFTER Ms. Psycho has also attempted to murder the maid of honor, by the way. 
Yeah. Chickie has issues.

OK, so...eventually newlywed Bride and Groom go to visit Psycho Sister in the Psych ward. It's not clear whether this is regular hospital that she's just in a psych wing of, or if it's an actual locked treatment center, but the net result is portrayed about the same. She's there in her little hospital pajamas with the elastic waist and no strings, ties, hard objects, sharp objects, or other contraband. She apologizes, they tell her they've heard she's made "great progress," and they give her a wedding picture that she asks for so she can "face what's real."

Only the wedding picture is in a wooden frame.
With a GLASS FRONT.
She takes it, tells them how lovely it is, and they let her hold it.
The attendant then comes and tells them it's time to go.
And Psycho Sister KEEPS THE PICTURE.

Of course, the minute they're out of sight, Psycho Sister drops the picture on the floor, shattering the glass. Which she then proceeds to pick up and shred the picture with...all with no one intercepting, observing, or intervening. And at the end, of course, she has that evil little crazy smile on her face, and she's ripped everyone out of the picture but the bridegroom, chanting, "he loves me, he loves me not, he loves me..."

Now, it makes a great final scene. EXCEPT IT WOULD NEVER HAPPEN THAT WAY.
In what alternate universe, first of all, is a mental patient in the hospital allowed a picture frame with GLASS in it and WOOD with sharp corners?
In what alternate universe, second of all, does the attendant see her clutching the picture and not take it away?
In what alternate universe, as well, are people walking around proceeding as normal a little distance away, while she drops this in the hallway, breaking it, then sits down next to it and starts picking up glass IN THE CORRIDOR OF A MENTAL UNIT?

Apparently, this happens in the Lifetime universe.
I promise you, it won't happen in any mental ward I've ever encountered.
Or if it does, someone's head will roll, swiftly and with no second chances.

There are so many things wrong with that scene that it destroys the credibility of the entire rest of the movie. Which, as these kinds of thrillers go, wasn't bad. True, there was a bit of suspension of disbelief involved, and more than a little muttering at the TV saying, "Oh, come ON. No. You don't owe her an apology. She's a psycho. Listen to your maid of honor."

...and such things.

But, hey, clearly Lifetime decided it needed High Chilling Drama at the end...and what's creepier than realizing Psycho Sister's been faking everybody out and she's going to get out eventually...and probably make good on her intentions? Yeah, leave everybody horrified. Great touch! Wow! Wonderful!

Um. No. Not when it depends on absolute STUPIDITY in order to be created.
Sorry, Lifetime. Not in THIS Lifetime.

This, folks, is why you do your research.
And if you can't write that scene that way, you think of an even better one that is actually realistic.
That is, if you're not too lazy.
Or if you don't underestimate the intelligence of your viewers so much that you figure they'll never know the difference.

Which could also be construed as an interesting bit of sexism, considering that Lifetime's always sold itself as "television for women."
Your target audience is that stupid, is it?

REALLY.

Thoughts?
Janny

Saturday, May 28, 2016

THIS Is Why You Need (GOOD) Editors, People

Is it just me, or does NO ONE know how to use the language anymore?
Facebook is rife with memes talking about all the misuses of things like THEY'RE, THEIR, and THERE. Not to mention all the funny poems about how English spelling versus pronunciation is inconsistent, to say the least. :-)

But there's one usage I haven't seen much said about: POUR versus PORE.

Probably for good reason...because NO ONE seems to know how to use the words right.

Quick reference guide:

Unless you've got a pitcher tipped, a container ready to be emptied, or a bucket of sand that needs to be added to a castle, you're not POURING over a document. You're PORING over it. 
Yes, there's a difference. And yes, it does matter.

Next time I see a published book with the heroine "pouring" over a book, a document, a letter, or other thing she's obviously reading and examining, I'm going to quote the dang thing on Facebook, identify the ignorant author, and ask which liquid or solid her character dumped on her reading material.


This is why you need editors who actually understand the English language, people. 

Unfortunately, most of you who DO need this won't ever read this post.

(sigh.)

Thoughts?
Janny

Tuesday, May 24, 2016

The First Toe-Dip in the Lake...

...was, indeed, as cold as I expected.

But I suspect future dips will start to feel REALLY good when it gets hot outside!

In the meantime, here's the view from my office window:

Yeah, I'm a brat. :-)

More to come,
Janny

Monday, May 23, 2016

A Pitching Parable

Here it is, Saturday morning, when someone comes on Facebook talking about Kensington's Lyrical Press line looking for thrillers and suspense. (!) Naturally, with CALLIE'S ANGEL sitting right there on my computer ready to find a home, I jump all over this.

Which then begins an interesting comedy of errors.

1. It seems the author who recommended her editor also admits her editor has moved from New York to Seattle. Which means that her editor is now a freelancer. Or something like it.

2. Of course, that also means her editor's not listed with the "normal" editors on the Kensington page anymore...

3. ...except that--wait, wait!--she actually IS on one of their pages as an assistant editor...

4. Which sets up an interesting dilemma when Author Who Is Ready To Pounce On This attempts to send an e-mail to said editor, and it bounces back.

5. The editor the aforementioned recommending author is NOW with (having been moved along in the process), however, is still WITH the company.

6. So Pouncing Author says, "I'm going for it"....

7. ...only to forget to take the OTHER editor's name out of the salutation on the e-mail. So I've got a "Dear Ms. F" when I'm actually pitching "Dear Mr. S."

8....prompting said Pouncing Author to follow up immediately with a short e-mail note saying, "I really do know what I'm doing, honest."

9. Which should be a cautionary tale to all of you out there: if you're going to recommend someone pitch your editor, GIVE HER E-MAIL ADDRESS in your post.  Don't say, "PM me for the e-mail address," and then fail to answer the PM. If it's NOT okay with your editor to do this without asking her, don't talk about the recommendation until you've got that okay. If you get flooded with PMs asking for that editor's e-mail address, answer them. Yes, ALL of them. You asked people to contact you, after all. Don't leave them hanging afterward.

10. With the actual e-mail address of this apparently now freelance editor, I could have saved myself a whole lot of grief, including saving myself looking like an idiot to an actual editor at a place that claims to want books like I write.

11. If I were a conspiracy theorist, I could wonder if this author deliberately set people up to fail, masking it as enthusiasm and "spreading good news." But...no. I really am not. A conspiracy theorist. Much. Well, okay, hardly ever.

I'm going to go change my aluminum-foil hat now. And hope that "Mr. S" has a sense of humor.

(sigh)
Janny






Monday, April 18, 2016

"Try to Leave Out the Parts People Skip."

The above is a quote from mystery writer Elmore Leonard, one I always got a kick out of. How do you know which parts people are going to skip? 

Well, I've gotten a partial answer on it.
I'm presently editing a nice book from a client about athletes, some of whom are from ages long past; setting the background for these people does entail a bit of history. However, I've discovered there's a certain amount of history that lends itself well to background...and a certain amount more that glazes me over.

And I like history. So that should tell you something.

What it tells me is that there are parts that should be edited out--the parts people will "skip over." I've never seen something illustrate this idea quite so clearly, and I know my author will have the final say on what stays and what goes...but it's still interesting to encounter, first-hand, an actual piece of manuscript that "shows" you rather than "telling" you, in a manner of speaking.

The trick, however, still is trying to get rid of this stuff before it's written and has to be edited out! 
If I have any insights on what that might look like, you'll hear it here first.
Trust me.
In the meantime...keep calm and write your a** off! Because you can't have something to edit until something is there on the page, or screen, in the first place.
Capisce?

Onward!
Janny

Sunday, March 20, 2016

...And the Tweaks Continue

...Have sent CALLIE'S ANGEL out to both my critique partner and a beta reader. 
Now the nervewracking part begins. Or at least the FIRST nervewracking part. 
You know. The one BEFORE you send it out to the Gatekeepers.

I've already gone from, "Man, this is a great story" to "Who in hell is going to want to read this?" 


Writers will recognize this syndrome instantly. And they will also recognize how fast it happens. (!)


Usually, if the writer has done her job somewhat right...she'll swing back toward "Man, this is a great story" again. At least she can get as far as, "OK, not bad. Maybe even good."


Then the comments will come back, and she'll need chocolate.


Hopefully, that will coincide with when the CWC can actually HAVE chocolate again...AFTER Lent is over.


One more week...(ayeeee)


Thoughts?

Janny

Wednesday, March 16, 2016

Callie's Angel...Almost Ready to Fly!

Well, the graphic on the side may have been  a little "off"...in that CALLIE'S ANGEL, my first new work in YEARS, may not come in at the original projected word count of 90K. (!) It's at 79,770 or so right now, pending revisions--but the first draft is DONE. THE END has been typed, which means first draft is now on the screen, ready for tweaking.

The hard part now is sitting back and NOT being in a hurry to get it submitted anywhere, because there will be changes that an author only discerns and is able to make AFTER the initial smoke clears and you get a better idea what you've created, where it's lacking, or where it needs cutting down.

Still, it's a hoot and a half to have something, finally, ALL NEW in the hopper, just ready to be polished into pristine shape and sent out there, hopefully to snag a contract with some kind of REAL money attached to it.

I, like all writers, live in perpetual hope.

More to come!


Thoughts?

Janny

Monday, March 14, 2016

....And No One Can Write Romantic Comedy, Either.

I know that writing "funny" is anything but easy. I've done it at times, but being a full-time comedic writer? That's a grind and a half for many reasons. So I "get" that people may not know how to write comedy that's truly laugh-out-loud funny.
But when you're writing rom-com, there's still a romance to consider, too. And the writers I've encountered over the past several days--with a few notable exceptions that can be counted on the fingers of one hand--can't do that, either.

What is it about romance now that eludes so many writers? 
Don't get me wrong: it's not like I'm encountering sex scene after sex scene masquerading as "romance." (You only get that nonsense in places like RWA. And, yes, you can quote me on that.) I'm talking about a romantic deficit that seems to think that one kiss is a relationship...or one flirtation...or one bickering "conflict." 
In other words, yeah, I'm seeing a lot of beginner mistakes in these stories. 
But it's kind of sad that they're not the same kind of beginner mistakes that I, and so many of my now-published colleagues, made in our early attempts to write love stories, either.

We tended to err on the side of "they're getting along way too famously way too fast."
Now, I'm seeing "romances" that deal with relationships that are toxic...
...that are decaying right there on the page...
...or that don't have a spark of excitement ANYWHERE. Not even erotic excitement. Which also isn't "romance," but at least is something a writer can work with as a jumping-off point.

In other words, if the state of romantic fiction is reflected by the entries I've been reading over the past few days...we need help.

I got to the point where I started muttering, "People, people, people. For heaven's sake. Turn on the Hallmark Channel once in a awhile, will you?"

Hey, it may not be highbrow...but at least it's got the emotion in the right places.
It's a start.
In the meantime, there are contest entrants out there who are gonna get their hearts broken by this particular judge--but that,  unfortunately, can't be helped.
If you don't WRITE what the category is about, I'm not going to pretend you DID.
I did give extensive feedback on most of these stories. Which'll probably put them at least a leg ahead in the game when they go onto paper the next time.
I hope!

In the meantime, I can only prescribe rom-com movies. Enough of those, and you'll internalize the genre, and maybe next time...you'll actually write it. 

Thoughts?
Janny

Tuesday, March 01, 2016

"Alright" Is Not A Word. No. Really. It Isn't.

Judging a creative writing contest...and wondering how it is that so many people really, really, REALLY don't know how to use English. No, I'm not talking esoteric words here, either. I'm talking the non-word "alright." Which is not correct. Has never been correct. And, frankly, which I've seen so many times already today that my teeth are already on edge.

So please...save my dental work. Use a dictionary. Use a Grammarian. Use something that lets you know what ARE, and ARE NOT, real English words. 


And if you have a dictionary that says "alright" is an ALL RIGHT alternative usage...burn it.


You'll be doing us all a favor.


More from your happy happy happy judge, anon.


Thoughts?

Janny

Friday, December 04, 2015

A Little Advent Meditation...

I love Christmas. When it's actually Christmas.
I do not love Christmas for Labor Day, Halloween, or even, yes, Thanksgiving.


I think it's ironic that some of the very same "wise voices" who tell us how fast time is flying are also in the forefront of the cultural trends that rush everything ahead of its proper timetable.


There's an inherent contradiction here. 
But, hey, that's the extent of my profundity for a Friday afternoon.


What I really mean to say is...
I LOVE CHRISTMAS.


No, I don't believe that Christmas is only for children. If you truly think that, you've missed the whole point.


No, I don't believe that if you're all alone, there's "no point" to Christmas decorating, preparing a nice meal, or other special traditions. Again, if you truly think that, you've missed the whole point; it's the birthday of the One who came for Every Single One of Us. Think about that long enough, and a little birthday cake will be worth firing up the oven for.


No, I don't believe that whether someone says "Merry Christmas" or "Happy Holidays" has a thing to do with how good a Christian they are...or how good of a Christian they expect ME to be. And I don't take offense at either one. After all, it's also the season of Hanukkah, and soon will be the season of New Year's Day. Holidays are holidays, folks. They're worth smiling about.


And no, I don't believe that the best gifts in life are the ones money can't buy. Not always. Money can buy some pretty valuable things. Food. Water. Clothing. Shelter. Medicine. Protection from harm. And, yes, just plain enjoyment.


(Which there's nothing wrong with, by the way. Just so's we're clear.)


So the next time someone start waxing sanctimonious about how meaningless Christmas is...for one reason or another...
...or how you "shouldn't" want things you DO want under the tree...
...or how it's "just not worth it" to fuss for any of this holiday stuff because it's all "out of control"...
Remember, the One whose birthday we look forward to thought it was worth a lot of fuss to give us a special present.


Enjoy the gifts you have to the fullest, and give the gifts you can with all the joy and enthusiasm you want to expend...


And you'll never have to ask, "What Would Jesus Do?"
Ever. Again.
Christmas tells it all.


Thoughts?

Janny

Monday, January 20, 2014

I Have a BAAAAAD Attitude. Just Sayin'.

How do I know this?

Because certain things in this life, I have NO patience with or for anymore.
It can't be because I'm getting old, either, because I had NO patience with those things from the time I was much younger. I'm just more vocal about expressing that impatience now. 

One of these things?

Job ads on freelance boards that stretch into 4 or 5 separate sections. Not only do you write a cover letter, but you then answer things like "What part of this job appeals to you the most?" (Note: you haven't done the job yet, so answering that truthfully is next to impossible.) Or, one of my favorites, "Would you be willing to spend time in further education and learning to advance in this job?" (Short answer: No. Why? Do I not appear to be smart enough to you through the lens of your computer?)

Now, please understand: If someone's interviewing me for a $100K job doing complex analysis, statistics, or supervising a global work force over multiple time zones, languages, and agendas, then, yes...I anticipate there'll be a bit of learning I'll be doing over time. But these jobs asking for five-part analysis are not $100K positions (trust me on this). Most of them are little more than "Can you write my book for me?" Which, as we know, is Not A Highly Paid Way To Make A Living In The First Place. :-) To expect that person to invest heavily in some idea of "extended education" (which is usually not considered paid time, either)? Ummmm...no.

Yeah. I know. Grumpy Cat's got nothin' on me.

You get that way when you know what you're doing but are constantly confronted with people who want you to prove it through innocuous question-and-answer sessions that sound like the first day of first grade. Besides the hundreds of hours on already-completed jobs, the dozens of 5-star testimonials from happy clients, and the sheer intelligence of your proposal up-front...they want more. 

Please stop doing this, folks. The pro you want working for you doesn't have time for this nonsense, which means the people who'll bother with it...are the people who are left.

I doubt that's what you REALLY want. 


But then, again, I could be wrong. I do have a baaaad attitude, after all. :-)

Thoughts?
Janny

Sunday, January 19, 2014

"What We Have Heayah..."*

...it never ceases to amaze me. And this crosses ALL status lines, all rank and file, all levels of proficiency, and all age groups.

Why is it when I very clearly state "the first two pages" of something, people will send me something that's 20 pages long and say, "Oh, just pick the two pages you think will show your editing style the best"?

Is there something alien and undecipherable about the phrase the first two pages?

Is is that you don't trust your own work to be good from the get-go...or you don't trust ME to be able to tell from those first two pages how things are going to go?

If you don't trust that the first two pages of your work are that good...work on them until they are.

If you don't trust that I can tell enough from the first two pages...read some more of this blog. I suspect it will give you all the confidence you need that I know what I'm about.

But it is a never-ending frustration to someone to ask for something so simple and have it turn into anything but what they asked for. If this was one of those "tests" in which you don't get any farther than the first instruction if you fail that part, guess what? You'll have failed already.  And no, I'm not being needlessly pedantic. If an editor tells you she wants 2 pages, and you give her 20, what do you think she's going to do with that work?

If you're really trying to give me reasons to say "No," one has to wonder why you're approaching me in the first place. Do you honestly think I won't notice?

There's a reason I'm called "the pickiest of the picky," you know. :-)
'nuff said.

(sheesh.)
Janny
*(if you're of a certain generation, you'll be able to complete the legendary phrase above. If not, put a question in the comments, and I'll be glad to elaborate. )

Saturday, January 18, 2014

No Longer A Spring Chicken...If That Matters

...which leads, of course, to the question, "Where in the world did that phrase come from?"

Well, according to a bulletin board on phrases.org/uk, here's the scoop:

"We find the expression 'now past a chicken,' meaning 'no longer young,' recorded as early as 1711 by Steele in 'The Spectator': 'You ought to consider you are now past a chicken; this Humour, which was well enough in a Girl, is insufferable in one of your Motherly Character.' 'No spring chicken,' an exaggeration of the phrase, is first recorded in America in 1906." From "Encyclopedia of Word and Phrase Origins" by Robert Hendrickson (Facts on File, New York, 1997).

So those of us who are of a "motherly character," I guess, aren't technically supposed to be as silly as those who've just come out of the shell. So to speak.

Yeah, like THAT's gonna happen. 

May all your chickens be in a row today! (And yes, I know, that's mixing metaphors...and poultry. Which is a poultry thing to do, especially for an incorrigible punster.)

A little fun for a Saturday morning...
Janny

Image: free digital photos.net, suwatpo.

Thursday, January 16, 2014

Potpourri of Persnicketiness

OK, I had the unforeseen--well, okay, it was sort of foreseen--meeting with my manager online, and was told I needed to use "communication skilles" for some of my work. Yep. I know I shouldn't make fun of that phrase...the guy is truly trying to learn written English. But when I saw that in the conversation, I pretty much saw red. And things didn't get much better from there.

The good news is, though, that Stylish Eve decided they're going to stay in operation through January, even though the owners/managers are all in exams (!) this month and wanted to take time off. Apparently, it hadn't dawned on them yet that people actually depended on the regular income we were all making from the site...

...and as I write this, the half of the gutter that's LEFT on our house is rattling in the wind. Half of it has already come down. This from a landlord who absolutely, positively FORBIDS tenants to touch a thing without prior authorization. So the house is falling down around us, it's not our fault, and the landlord is (I kid you not) in St. Croix until Sunday. His sons, who are supposed to help out in his absence, have been nowhere to be seen.

Now, I understand being slammed with work. Trust me. I do. However, I don't neglect MY home when I'm doing a lot of writing, nor do I neglect my paying clients when I need to stop and do "house stuff." So why is it OK to have a house falling down around tenants?

Yeah. I'm in a *mood* today. :-P

More later,
Janny

Sunday, February 10, 2013

Slugville Sunday

This weekend, I have been a slug.
Well, okay...mostly today I have been a slug.
Only it's a different kind of slug, and a much better kind, than I might have been.

Most of the time if I think of being a slug, I think of those days when you lie around, don't do much of anything except go to church if it's a Sunday, call for pizza, watch reality TV or a bunch of ball games, sit outside by the fire pit, or a combination of all of these. 
You know. Slugville.
Slugville can include a nap, but I give a wide allowance for naps--in my experience, when I nap, I need a nap, and it has nothing to do with being a slug. :-)

But the kind of Slugville I did today was crawling inside my Writing Den and coming out only when I had to.
Was commentator at 8 AM Mass, delivered my baked goods to Open Door, and then went into the Writing Cave for a couple of hours.
I came out to make spaghetti for lunch, cleaned up the kitchen, and spent a little while with the hub before he went to work...but even then, between times with him, I was slugging it out in the office again.
Once he left for work, I started a load of laundry, then went back to Slugville and stayed there a looooong time.
What was I doing?
Writing.

Sounds obvious, doesn't it? But it hasn't been easy.
I've had to re-learn how to spend hours just...writing.
Not surfing around on the Net, although I did my share of that, too.
Not playing on Facebook, although I did check in regularly.
But most of the time, I was writing.
First, I did some work on one freelance assignment. Knocked out one story out of twelve I've got to work on this week.
Then, I did some more work on Callie.
Then, I had a break--something to eat and an episode of Sue Thomas, F.B. Eye
(The DVR is my Friend.)
Then, I got an invitation to "interview" for another writing gig on oDesk, took a look at it, told the client what I could do, got hired, and knocked out that assignment this evening...
...around writing more on Callie.

And now, it's 11 PM, and what am I still doing?
Writing. 
If I didn't have to sleep eventually, I feel like I could just bounce from one Word document to another and keep it up all night.
I can't do that. I'm not a night person.
But the muse has finally decided that, yes, it's time to Write All Day Long.

There's only one problem with this variety of Slugville, and that's that I get No Exercise.
(other than running up and down stairs to feed cats, change out laundry loads, or the like.)
So I need to remember to get up and do some exercise tomorrow.
Because I fully intend, having moved into Slugville, to stay there awhile.

In between, of course, things like Choral Union...
...getting stuff weeded out around the house in preparation for moving...
...and tending to Life Intrusions of other kinds.

But it's been a grand day in Slugville.
This is the kind of writing day in which one can go for 10 hours, give or take some breaks, and not feel tired.
One keeps feeling like, "Hey, maybe I can do a couple more paragraphs on _____."

One does have to stop eventually.
But while one is slugging along, one doesn't feel like one has to stop...ever.
And that, my friends, is a very nice feeling indeed.

Slug it out this week!
Janny

Friday, February 08, 2013

What's the Hurry?...Part Two

Last time we talked (and talked and talked and talked--hey, I've already told you it takes me 10,000 words to say "hello") about hurrying work to publication before it's ready. About what makes us want to do that silly thing. And a little bit about how not to do that silly thing.

This time around, we're going to talk about developing patience.
Right now.

(Sorry, I couldn't resist.) (Ahem.)

Developing enough patience to hold onto a work until it's truly ready to go out into the big bad world by itself isn't an easy thing. We've all been stung by the impulse to send something out too soon: we burst through to the end of a manuscript, we're exhilarated, and we craft a query letter and stick that puppy in an envelope...

...only to discover a few hours later that we left a massively unfinished sentence unfinished because we were going to "get to it later"...
...or we called a character by the wrong name on p. 212...
...or there's a big ol' embarrassing bunch of telling rather than showing that we could have done much better on the next draft...
...or sometimes something even more egregious.

Now, to a non-writer, some of this stuff may sound silly. Who cares if you mistakenly called your character by the wrong name three-quarters of a way through a manuscript? Or who cares if you've got telling rather than showing? Well, for one person, an editor cares. If you've sent something out to an editor too soon, you've given her an easy reason to say "no." And that's one thing you definitely don't want to do.

But what about readers? If you're going direct to reader, can't some of this stuff be overlooked? Aren't readers willing to cut you more slack than one of those hated stuffy ol' gatekeepers?

Well, maybe. But why take the chance? Odds are that even non-writers will notice an unfinished sentence. Most of the time, even non-writers will notice a character being called by the wrong name--if for no other reason than that it stops them for a moment and makes them think, "Wait a minute. Isn't that so-and-so?" The unfinished sentence will stop them the same way.

That's precisely what you don't want to do to a reader. Every time a reader stops, she loses contact and identification with your characters for just that split second. Every time she stops because of something you did...you've stuck your figurative foot out and tripped her. Too many stumbles, and that reader won't want to stick around in your story--it's starting to leave bruises.

Which is why just about when most of us think we're "done" with a given book is actually the point at which the real work starts. That's when we do our editing. Our fierce quizzing of every little detail in the book to make sure it's right and it belongs. Our ruthless "murdering of the darlings" that most of the time is necessary, but that cannot--and may never--occur if we've published the material too soon.

Yes, some books can be freely revised and "tweaked" even after publication date. Some platforms allow for it, even make it easy.  This is great for those cases where books are letter-perfect when they leave your keyboard and have Gremlins attack in the meantime. In those cases, tweaking is not only OK but the only fair way to make sure your work is shown in its best light.

Any other time, however, it's a crutch. And if you're a writer worth your salt, you don't want to hobble through your career on crutches. That's where patience can be a miracle cure.

So how do you practice patience in your writing work?

1. Let it settle. We hinted at this earlier, and we've also mentioned it in other blog posts over the years. Typing "The End," in this case, is only the beginning. It's the signal for you to put your feet up, put the work aside, and give it time away from your eyes.  How long? Long enough so that when you come back to it, you aren't too close to it. A week's too short in most cases; some writers I've read recommend six months.  I'm somewhere in the middle. I think somewhere between three and six weeks is about ideal. They say we need three weeks of practicing a new behavior before it becomes a habit; three weeks, then, may be what your "system" needs to "clear out" the work in its present form so you can look at it fresh. The longer you can wait past three weeks, I believe, the better off your work will be in the end. And if you can do that six-months thing...you don't need this post. You're already patient!

2. Refill the well. Some folks will tell you to start another work right away, and there was a time when I would have been right on board that bus with them. I'll give you this much: if you've got another idea that's been pounding at the bars wanting to get out while you finished this one...you can certainly sketch out some new material. But if I were you, I'd resist the urge to immediately start plunging whole-hog into a "new" work. You need time to catch your creative breath, time to let new ideas percolate, and time enough away from the old writing routine, voice, characters, and other elements so that your "new" work actually sounds new--and not like Son Of Work You've Just Finished. We've all seen writers who have a "new" book that was clearly started when they were still enmeshed in the old one. The book might be good, but the odds are it'll be better if it's got its own space and time.

3. Have faith. This is actually the crux of the matter--the ability to rise above the vaguely (or not-so-vaguely) hysterical advice out there about "getting your name out." Yes, you want your work to become known; yes, you want to make money as an author, and to do that, people have to know you exist. But quantity at the expense of quality isn't an attribute most of us want attached to our names--and a writing career that starts out great and only gets better is worth the wait. Waiting, however, takes a degree of trust. It takes a degree--actually a whole bunch of degrees--of faith. And it takes enough humility and balance to understand that your opportunity will come along without your having to hurry it. 

Let me say that again, because it flies in the face of so much propaganda--and, let's face it, real-life experience. The essence of the patience you need not to "go off half-cocked" with work that's half-ready is trusting that opportunities are like buses: there's always another one coming. :-) 

Interestingly enough, in our present publishing climate, that's more true than it's ever been. In the days of having to submit stuff by paper, wait six months to a year to two years to hear anything back, and then do the whole process over again with every rejection, the idea that "my opportunity is just around the corner" could sometimes sound Pollyanna-ish, if not deluded. Time spent waiting didn't feel like productive time, and if you weren't careful, it wasn't. But now, with subsidy publishing, small presses, direct-to-reader, and all the permutations of the more "traditional" publishing model that are out there...you can pretty much bank on the fact that when your book is ready, you'll be able to publish it--one way or another.  You're not going to "lose your chance" forever if you don't hurry, or if you don't supply a market with X number of books in six months, or if you don't Get That Sequel Out Yesterday. Your readers will wait for quality; the market will reward quality, especially if you've given it to them from the very beginning and continue to do so.

But you cannot hope to provide consistent high quality without taking a decent amount of time over the product in the first place. Cutting corners, deciding you need to "show" the industry what "real writing" is, or any of the other chip-on-shoulder or hurry-the-bus-is-leaving behaviors in which you might be tempted to indulge aren't going to get you where you want to go. They're like the get-rich-quick schemes that are all over the place; you might have a flash of what you think is brilliance, even temporary success...but then it'll dry up as fast as it came in the first place. And if I know you as an author, that's not what you want. Flashes in the pan, apply elsewhere. Most of us want better than that.

So don't go there. Don't fall for the pressure, don't believe the hype and/or disaster scenarios, and above all...don't make yourself susceptible to "hurry sickness." Better one  book a year that's so over-the-top great you can hardly believe you wrote it yourself, than six mediocre or "good enough" products. Your brand is important; take the time, challenge yourself, and have the faith to make those products great, one at a time, with all the time they deserve.

There really, truly, is no hurry. Take your time, and you'll actually move toward your goals much more smoothly in the long run. And...you'll enjoy the trip!


Thoughts?
Janny