Publishing stories.
Give the reader something to picture as well as something left to imagine themselves.
A story is a story, not a quiz.
Imagine the illustrator reading your opening paragraph.
It starts: He walked in and saw her.
What are the illustrator and reader supposed to imagine?
A sixty-year-old man and 20 year old girl? Eighteen-year-old boy and forty year old woman?
If I imagine the former I don’t want to be told in paragraph four that the people in the room are the latter.
Man with goatee beard? Bald? Teenager? Small and plump.
Angry? Or soothing?
Skinny, scared girl? Or huge, voluptuous proud woman?
Characters
1 Develop characters and situations so readers can visualise types of people and environment.
Readers
2 Amount of developing depends on readers you are aiming at.
Message
Supposing you are describing the fun to be had from a certain activity, whether skiing, sewing or bungee jumping.
Are you putting over a message that anybody – everybody - can experience this? Or that one specific type of person should?
Hero and Heroine
It might be based on yourself – the middle class women, or working class or upper class woman, who never thought she would enjoy it. You know who you are and see yourself as the main character in the scene. But the reader doesn’t know you.
If you are an elderly writer like Barbara Cartland with your picture on the cover, in paragraph one you have to tell the reader whether you are imagining yourself as you appear now as a wealthy woman of elderly looks with fancy clothes including pink ribbons or as you were in your slender youth, or as a fictional character of different age and clothing style such as jeans.
If the former, any woman, change the types of characters in each story, or give the man a series of girlfriends, all different. Different classes, different walks of life.
Publishers
For speed or to show you can finish a book self-publish through lulu on line printers.
Publishers want to know if you can finish 10 stories
Write ten stories and approach a publisher.
Publishers want you to write to a brief and to time.
Test yourself. Can you sit down every morning for two hours and write to a theme, eg stories on revenge, stories set in London, stories about secretary, stories about a supermarket?
Be prepared to promise a publisher more.
On a theme.
Or lulu.com self publisher.
Theme
Have a theme. You may already have an obsession eg about weddings or graveyards or bicycles or chains.
Within that you may have an emotion, a positive emotion such as love, or revenge, or both – ups and downs.
Titles
A title focuses your writing and helps the reader identify the theme. Think of contrasts. The Prince and The Pauper. Remember two - Pride and Prejudice. Or the rule of three.
Numbers
Why stop at three? Four or five. Four weddings and a funeral. A hundred and one dalmations.
The ups and downs of love in a graveyard.
If you have only a few stories, publish as birthday present, or as a bedtime story book to read to her.
Saturday, October 6, 2007
Tuesday, July 10, 2007
SONGWRITING AND 'SIXTEEN' - ONE WORD MAKES ALL THE DIFFERENCE
Maybe the turning point of my life was a couple of weekends ago when I met the son of Robert Sherman the songwriter. I mentioned that I was an author named Angela Lansbury and an aspiring songwriter and the son said, ‘My father wrote the songs for a film in which the actress of that name starred.’
Robert Sherman is also a painter and I looked at his website, http://www.robertshermanart.com/
Robert Sherman and his brother Richard had a father who was a songwriter and Robert was writing songs as a child and had written a musical by the time he was in his teens.
His songs included numerous award winning hits, including those from Mary Poppins, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, and numerous tunes for Disney including the theme park classic It’s A Small World. Plus, one of my favourites – ‘Sixteen’!
Sixteen is ‘my song’, an ongoing joke with a good friend of mine who introduced me to Karaoke, William Brougham, who I met through Toastmasters International in London (he’s now in Australia – a radio newsreader with a second career as an actor making appearances on shows such as Home & Away).
William always says he will sing Sixteen for me. I am no longer sixteen.
I wrote to William:
You know a song is perfect when you change one word and it's ruined.
'You're sixty, you're beautiful and you're mine,' just doesn't have quite the same ring, does it?
Later I added a postscript to my email:
I looked at what I wrote again and my comment on the whole being greater than the some of the parts was true.
When you try to re-write Shakespeare to show you understand it in an O level comprehension your version never matches the rhythm and drama of the original.
'To be or not to be; that is the question,' is often quoted.
'To live or not to live, that's the decision which I must make,' is just not as memorable.
Humour aside. Firstly, the obvious joke in the change to the song is the meaning of the words sixteen and sixty.
A sixteen-year-old is generally considered more beautiful than a sixty-year-old.
Unless a song about a sixty year old is written as a tribute, an anniversary song. But the jumpy pop song music would not fit; the original song has to be sung by a sixteen-year-old boy, or eighteen-year-old, or somebody young-sounding, otherwise it suggests cradle-snatching and sounds like he's a predator.
If the sixty-year-old woman is 'his', the song has to be sung by a sixty-year-old man, or an eighty-year-old man (who might be thrilled to have a lively sixty-year-old woman.
For an older singer you would need a slower, more nostalgic Fifties style song sung as a duet sung by an ageing Frank Sinatra, or a big band tune.)
But the metre is changed too.
Sixteen has emphasis on the second syllable, whilst sixty has emphasis on the first.
Maybe that doesn't matter.
Also sixteen was age of consent so it adds sexual allure and desire on the part of the singer, adding an edge of anticipation and desire, plus triumph, to the word 'mine'.If I could find the email of the composer I'd write and ask him to create a new song for his former fans from the Sixties who are no longer sixteen. The contact number on the site is for the art sales in California. He's now living in London.
Maybe the turning point of my life was a couple of weekends ago when I met the son of Robert Sherman the songwriter. I mentioned that I was an author named Angela Lansbury and an aspiring songwriter and the son said, ‘My father wrote the songs for a film in which the actress of that name starred.’
Robert Sherman is also a painter and I looked at his website, http://www.robertshermanart.com/
Robert Sherman and his brother Richard had a father who was a songwriter and Robert was writing songs as a child and had written a musical by the time he was in his teens.
His songs included numerous award winning hits, including those from Mary Poppins, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, and numerous tunes for Disney including the theme park classic It’s A Small World. Plus, one of my favourites – ‘Sixteen’!
Sixteen is ‘my song’, an ongoing joke with a good friend of mine who introduced me to Karaoke, William Brougham, who I met through Toastmasters International in London (he’s now in Australia – a radio newsreader with a second career as an actor making appearances on shows such as Home & Away).
William always says he will sing Sixteen for me. I am no longer sixteen.
I wrote to William:
You know a song is perfect when you change one word and it's ruined.
'You're sixty, you're beautiful and you're mine,' just doesn't have quite the same ring, does it?
Later I added a postscript to my email:
I looked at what I wrote again and my comment on the whole being greater than the some of the parts was true.
When you try to re-write Shakespeare to show you understand it in an O level comprehension your version never matches the rhythm and drama of the original.
'To be or not to be; that is the question,' is often quoted.
'To live or not to live, that's the decision which I must make,' is just not as memorable.
Humour aside. Firstly, the obvious joke in the change to the song is the meaning of the words sixteen and sixty.
A sixteen-year-old is generally considered more beautiful than a sixty-year-old.
Unless a song about a sixty year old is written as a tribute, an anniversary song. But the jumpy pop song music would not fit; the original song has to be sung by a sixteen-year-old boy, or eighteen-year-old, or somebody young-sounding, otherwise it suggests cradle-snatching and sounds like he's a predator.
If the sixty-year-old woman is 'his', the song has to be sung by a sixty-year-old man, or an eighty-year-old man (who might be thrilled to have a lively sixty-year-old woman.
For an older singer you would need a slower, more nostalgic Fifties style song sung as a duet sung by an ageing Frank Sinatra, or a big band tune.)
But the metre is changed too.
Sixteen has emphasis on the second syllable, whilst sixty has emphasis on the first.
Maybe that doesn't matter.
Also sixteen was age of consent so it adds sexual allure and desire on the part of the singer, adding an edge of anticipation and desire, plus triumph, to the word 'mine'.If I could find the email of the composer I'd write and ask him to create a new song for his former fans from the Sixties who are no longer sixteen. The contact number on the site is for the art sales in California. He's now living in London.
Monday, June 11, 2007
Self-publishing, Table of Contents & Index Challenges
I want to get my book of comic poems loaded up onto Lulu.com . I spent hours getting the table of contents and index of titles and index of first lines with the correct page numbers.
The heading size has been keyed in so that sections are heading size one, titles are heading size two, and first lines are heading size three. Every first line should be tallied with the correct heading size. However, now the list seems to have reverted to the uncorrected version. Footnotes and author's notes are listed as first lines.
Maybe I've loaded up the wrong earlier version. How do you keep track of several revised versions of the same document?I've tried listing poems in number order like musicians' musical works. So that even if you change the title the number is the same. The largest number is today's poem and the earliest number one is the earliest poem.
Then I get muddled because the front cover's latest version is version 13 but the back cover was revised less often so I have it under version 11. Should I re-save the back cover as version 13 to co-ordinate the numbers?
I've listed documents as version one and version two. And by date order. So then I can easily find yesterday's version. I need to have a rest and then some coffee and come back to the problem with a clear head. My writing course is in a month and I want a book to take to the course and sell.
The heading size has been keyed in so that sections are heading size one, titles are heading size two, and first lines are heading size three. Every first line should be tallied with the correct heading size. However, now the list seems to have reverted to the uncorrected version. Footnotes and author's notes are listed as first lines.
Maybe I've loaded up the wrong earlier version. How do you keep track of several revised versions of the same document?I've tried listing poems in number order like musicians' musical works. So that even if you change the title the number is the same. The largest number is today's poem and the earliest number one is the earliest poem.
Then I get muddled because the front cover's latest version is version 13 but the back cover was revised less often so I have it under version 11. Should I re-save the back cover as version 13 to co-ordinate the numbers?
I've listed documents as version one and version two. And by date order. So then I can easily find yesterday's version. I need to have a rest and then some coffee and come back to the problem with a clear head. My writing course is in a month and I want a book to take to the course and sell.
Monday, June 4, 2007
Indexing My Book Of Comic Poems
When I compiled my index, I had trouble with the letter I.
My poems were listed as I'd; If; I had ...; If; I'm.
After consulting a dicitonary it became clear what to do.
I on its own is first. Then abbreviations as if you ignore the apostrophe such as I'd.
Then other words in alphabetical order such as If.
My poems were listed as I'd; If; I had ...; If; I'm.
After consulting a dicitonary it became clear what to do.
I on its own is first. Then abbreviations as if you ignore the apostrophe such as I'd.
Then other words in alphabetical order such as If.
Indexing poems
I've been creating a contents list called TOC or Table of Contents for short.
The contents list is in page number order. So I have the contents listed at the start with the titles of poems in page number order.
I would expect the index at the end to be alphabetical.
But the index created in word is also in page number order.
The index of first lines at the end has been created with page number order.
I have had to compile my own alphabetical list of first lines, adding the page numbers.
Of course I could have copied it and done A-Z autosort. Why didn't I think of that before?
I'll do that next time.
The contents list is in page number order. So I have the contents listed at the start with the titles of poems in page number order.
I would expect the index at the end to be alphabetical.
But the index created in word is also in page number order.
The index of first lines at the end has been created with page number order.
I have had to compile my own alphabetical list of first lines, adding the page numbers.
Of course I could have copied it and done A-Z autosort. Why didn't I think of that before?
I'll do that next time.
Friday, March 2, 2007
Why you should use rhyme and rhythm
I teach English as a home tutor. I am the author of ten books. I am shortly going to produce a poetry book. I correspond by email with fellow writers and poets. I thought I'd share with you thoughts which I had when I wrote to fellow poet Geoff.
Yes, you can write what is known as free verse. My new friend Geoff who writes excellent poetry has teased me by sending a piece of blank verse and sneaked in one almost rhyming couplet: 'denying it and crying for it'. More like assonance.
I'm a believer in rhyme and rhythm. If you don't have either, you have verse, which means turn. Mere verse means you have a piece of prose badly punctuated, using line breaks instead of commas for emphasis of the first and last words of important sections of sentences. So, to my mind verse is merely poor punctuation. Verse only becomes poetry if it has rhyme and rhythm.
Read aloud any piece of classical poetry and it is beautiful to listen to. For example: Browning's Pied Piper of Hamlin; Wordsworth - I wandered lonely as a cloud; Kipling - If you can keep your head when all about you ... Masefield I must go down to the seas again To the lonely sea and the sky ...
Even bits of blank verse from Shakespeare, To be or not to be ... When you try to rewrite it you can convey the sense but not the grandeur of the rhythm which Shakespeare gives to major speeches by VIP characters, kings and heroes. (Once more into the breach, dear friends, once more ... King Henry).
That's why you can remember classic poetry but none of the modern stuff. The famous poem about an old person defiantly wearing a purple hat is rated as one of the top poems but I can never remember it and when I read it the idea is fun but there's no line which grabs my attention.
I can write you a poem of five rhyming couplets to use in a Wedding Speech or for yourself or a family member or friend for a birthday or birthday card for £75.
I am the author of a book called Wedding Speeches & Toasts.
I have a website http://annalondon8.googlepages.com
angelalansbury@hotmail.com
Yes, you can write what is known as free verse. My new friend Geoff who writes excellent poetry has teased me by sending a piece of blank verse and sneaked in one almost rhyming couplet: 'denying it and crying for it'. More like assonance.
I'm a believer in rhyme and rhythm. If you don't have either, you have verse, which means turn. Mere verse means you have a piece of prose badly punctuated, using line breaks instead of commas for emphasis of the first and last words of important sections of sentences. So, to my mind verse is merely poor punctuation. Verse only becomes poetry if it has rhyme and rhythm.
Read aloud any piece of classical poetry and it is beautiful to listen to. For example: Browning's Pied Piper of Hamlin; Wordsworth - I wandered lonely as a cloud; Kipling - If you can keep your head when all about you ... Masefield I must go down to the seas again To the lonely sea and the sky ...
Even bits of blank verse from Shakespeare, To be or not to be ... When you try to rewrite it you can convey the sense but not the grandeur of the rhythm which Shakespeare gives to major speeches by VIP characters, kings and heroes. (Once more into the breach, dear friends, once more ... King Henry).
That's why you can remember classic poetry but none of the modern stuff. The famous poem about an old person defiantly wearing a purple hat is rated as one of the top poems but I can never remember it and when I read it the idea is fun but there's no line which grabs my attention.
I can write you a poem of five rhyming couplets to use in a Wedding Speech or for yourself or a family member or friend for a birthday or birthday card for £75.
I am the author of a book called Wedding Speeches & Toasts.
I have a website http://annalondon8.googlepages.com
angelalansbury@hotmail.com
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