No Mas!

This past week, well really two weeks have been hectic here.  First, my step-dad passed away and I went home for the funeral.  There was lots of family drama from his side of the family, which I won't get into here but believe me...it was drama.  :-)  I returned home on Friday evening and spent most of this week getting over the drama and catching up on things, just not the blog.  *sorry*

A couple things "came" to me during this time and I thought I'd share them with you.

First,  we put off so many things that would give us pleasure because it's not the "right" time or some other silly reason.  So, I'm vowing not to put off things I'd enjoy.  I'm going to buy that boquet of flowers for myself cause I like having flowers around.

Next, we carry so many burdens and stress.  We let the negative things we have no control over weigh us down and take the joy out of life.  We let other people dictate our happiness.  Well, from now on, no more.  Or as the chihuahuas say, "No mas!"  :-) 

And, we need to take control of our lives.  Sure there are things we can't control, but there is so much we can.  We just don't.  We (I) just let things happen instead of planning.  And there's nothing wrong with being spontaneous but if we plan for things, we'll have more great happenings in our lives that we can look back on and remember instead of regrets.

So for me as a writer, this means I"m going to take a serious look at my writing goals, make some plans then get busy making those decisions happen.    I've been letting things slide in that area, waiting for them to happen but no mas, I'm taking the bull by the horns.  Ole'!

Here's the "No mas!" scene for those of you who haven't seen it.

What about you?

To Prologue or Not To Prologue

Right now I'm working on two novels, one a fantasy and the other a suspense/romance/mystery thing.  And, they both have prologues.  I've debated about using prologues on both of them and came to the decision that, yes, using a prologue on them was fine.  I decided my prologues did give the reader info that was needed, that would enhance the story, make it a bit better for the reader just starting the book.

Then, as I got more along in the revising process, I came to the conclusion that I really didn't need a prologue on the fantasy novel after all.  The info I give out can be woven in later.  So, now I've got to get rid of the prologues and do some tweaking.

What about you?  How do you feel about prologues?  Do you read them or just skip over and start with chapter one?  Have you pondered the issue of using a prologue in your own writing and if so, what did you decide?

Here's a great article on prologues.

Fun Facts Friday

  Today I thought I'd share a few things about me and hopefully you'll share a few things about you.  That way we can get to know each other a bit better.  So, here goes...

I love to put in ...  I like 'em a lot...  In fact... I think the more the merrier...
I don't like commas.  At all.  I'm surprised the comma police hasn't stopped by and arrested me.
I put the "pro" in procrastination.  In fact, my middle name is Jean Procrastination Lauzier. :-)  Not really, but it probably should be.
I live in East Texas, Longview to be exact. 
I have three cats and a Golden Retriever. 
Also have three kids.  Oldest is only son.
Hubby is Baptist preacher, I teach a ladies Bible study.
I'm a graduate of Long Ridge Writer's Group and write a weekly column for their newsletter about useful websites for writers.
I love writing and writing conferences.

And, I love to talk about writing.

So, now you know a little bit about me, share a bit about yourself in the comment thread.

Writing Challenge

Next week my kids will be at camp.  All three of them.  I'll be at home alone, other than the cat, all day.  I'm not sure how that's going to feel since it's been years and years since that's happened but I've decided to make the most of the quiet time and write, write, write.  And then, I'm going to write some more.

So, here's the idea. 

Y'all join me in my writing marathon.  If you can't spend all day, then set a goal you can handle and get some words on the page.  Maybe you might want to try this.  #write100  It's a really nifty way to get some writing accomplished. 

So who's up for the challenge?  Share your goals with us, then check in each day during the week and let us know how things are going.

The Senses

Last Friday night at our writer's group meeting, our speaker talked about how important it was to get all five senses (if appropriate) in each scene.  And I have to agree.  By adding the other senses, we allow our readers to get more involved in each scene. 

One thing I did when plotting out my romance novel was to take each scene/chapter and make notes of what the characters would hear, smell, feel, see and possibly taste.  Once I knew what those items were, I could then add them in and make the scene richer.  (I need to do this for my mystery. *sigh*

Now, you don't want to do an info dump of sensations.  That's about as annoying as any other info dump but sprinkle those tidbits in here and there.  Weave them in with the rest of the story. Maybe use them in your dialogue tags instead of the classic said.

So, what about you?  Do you have trouble getting all or most of the senses in your stories?  Got any ideas or tricks you use to get 'em in?

Oooooops!

One of the things I really don't like in a story is when a character rolls his/her eyes.  Or when a character "catches" someone's eye.  I always get the picture of someone taking their eyes out and rolling 'em across the table/floor and then someone catching eyeballs.  I'm not sure why, but for some reason it just bothers me.  I know it's a common way of saying things but still.  It's something I try to avoid in my writing.

Another one, and I saw this in a story somewhere... Character spun his head around.    Reminded me of the scene in The Exorsist.

Again, I try to avoid my characters body's doing things that are physically impossible but sometimes...

For example, I found this in my WIP the other day.  My character "turned" into a flower lined driveway.   My inner editor was NOT happy with that.

And, as I'm editing my mystery...I swear, I've found 900 "thats" to take out.  It's like they were on sale or something.  I have no idea why I put so many of them in there but gee...
So, the point of all this...  Give your WIP some time to cool off before you edit/revise.  Once you've been away from it for a bit, you can see it with fresh eyes and catch those slips of the fingers.