LEARNING FROM REALITY SHOWS

Judges of season seven “The Next Food Network Star” said goodbye to Justin D in this week’s fourth of July showdown.   The judges perplexed by his drastic change in personality felt he was the one to cut this week.   Even Guy, the guest mentor, asked him “which guy are you now?”  Although the judges took into account the food served  and his overall performance in this completion in their decision to cut him, Justin, in my opinion, was trying to please the judges the best way he knew how instead of just being himself.   He lost himself as the stakes got higher.    

How many of us writers seek change after query letters go unnoticed?  How many of us get frustrated and seek out agent blogs and publisher blogs to find out what we are doing wrong?  Not to say that is a bad thing.  We should want to learn and fine-tune our skills, as long as we still keep true to why we started writing in the first place.  We get so focused on being published; we lose the passion we started with. 

I think Justin lost what he loved in the competition.   

So how do we lose our love of writing?  Blogging, reading others blogs, commenting on other’s blogs, marketing our blogs, facebook, myspace, twitter, and the list goes on.  Of course most of this, if not all, is important and helps build our platform—but what is more important? 

Did we write today?  1600 words?  1000? 500?    

There is also something else to learn from the show in general.  Justin knew his stuff, but he lacked personality.  He was not a strong character and besides the hairdo, it was hard to relate to him or even remember him. 

Back to writing:  Are the characters we write strong characters?  Do our readers want to cheer our hero’s to accomplish their goals?  Are our villains hated and despised by the reader? 

What reality show do you watch?  Which character do you want to win?  Which character do you want to fail? How can you apply this to your writing?

      

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Pulling Weeds

Now that I can put another year of Vacation Bible School (VBS) under my belt, it’s time to focus back on writing.  Don’t get me wrong, I love VBS.  It’s the one time a year no one cares if I act like a ten year old all week (and wear pig-tales and braided hair).  I also love the creative process of it all—to transform the church into something amazing.  Okay, our theme this year was a little dry, (New York) but next year…yep next year’s is going to be WAY cool.  J 

One other thing I enjoy besides VBS and writing, is working in the yard.   I spent a few hours this morning spraying weeds, raking new cedar over the dirt patches, and pulling the unwanted weeds from the upcoming flowerbeds. 

Fun…I know…I’m making you jealous (okay boring you to tears, but hang on a moment). 

It was in frustration of the prickly weeds, which stabbed my fingertips when I touched them, and not being able to tell the new plants from the weeds that reminded me of a bible section that talks about weeds.

“ ²⁴ Jesus told them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field. ²⁵ But while everyone was sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and went away. ²⁶ When the wheat sprouted and formed heads, then the weeds also appeared.

   ²⁷ “The owner’s servants came to him and said, ‘Sir, didn’t you sow good seed in your field? Where then did the weeds come from?’

   ²⁸ “‘An enemy did this,’ he replied.

   “The servants asked him, ‘Do you want us to go and pull them up?’

   ²⁹ “‘No,’ he answered, ‘because while you are pulling the weeds, you may uproot the wheat with them. ³⁰ Let both grow together until the harvest. At that time I will tell the harvesters: First collect the weeds and tie them in bundles to be burned; then gather the wheat and bring it into my barn.’”

I love when the simple things in life, remind me of God’s WORD.  Although I still want to pluck those weeds out of the flowerbeds (next time with thick gloves), I know that God sees me among the weeds and He hopes that I will reach out and touch the lives around me—turning weeds into beautiful flowers.   

That is what inspires me to write—to touch others. 

What inspires you every day?  What are your future hopes and dreams?
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PULLING WEEDS

Now that I can put another year of Vacation Bible School (VBS) under my belt, it’s time to focus back on writing.  Don’t get me wrong, I love VBS.  It’s the one time a year no one cares if I act like a ten year old all week (and wear pig-tales and braided hair).  I also love the creative process of it all—to transform the church into something amazing.  Okay, our theme this year was a little dry, (New York) but next year…yep next year’s is going to be WAY cool.  J  

One other thing I enjoy besides VBS and writing, is working in the yard.   I spent a few hours this morning spraying weeds, raking new cedar over the dirt patches, and pulling the unwanted weeds from the upcoming flowerbeds. 

Fun…I know…I’m making you jealous (okay boring you to tears, but hang on a moment). 

It was in frustration of the prickly weeds, which stabbed my fingertips when I touched them, and not being able to tell the new plants from the weeds that reminded me of a bible section that talks about weeds.

“ ²⁴ Jesus told them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field. ²⁵ But while everyone was sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and went away. ²⁶ When the wheat sprouted and formed heads, then the weeds also appeared.

   ²⁷ “The owner’s servants came to him and said, ‘Sir, didn’t you sow good seed in your field? Where then did the weeds come from?’

   ²⁸ “‘An enemy did this,’ he replied.

   “The servants asked him, ‘Do you want us to go and pull them up?’

   ²⁹ “‘No,’ he answered, ‘because while you are pulling the weeds, you may uproot the wheat with them. ³⁰ Let both grow together until the harvest. At that time I will tell the harvesters: First collect the weeds and tie them in bundles to be burned; then gather the wheat and bring it into my barn.’”

I love when the simple things in life, remind me of God’s WORD.  Although I still want to pluck those weeds out of the flowerbeds (next time with thick gloves), I know that God sees me among the weeds and He hopes that I will reach out and touch the lives around me—turning weeds into beautiful flowers.   

That is what inspires me to write—to touch others. 

What inspires you every day?  What are your future hopes and dreams?     

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HOW DO I FORMAT MY MANUSCRIPT?

I love getting questions!  The question HOW DO I FORMAT MY MANUSCRIPT for editors/publishers is one I’ve been asked more than once.  Of course, this is my first publishing deal and I know that every editor/publisher/agent will have different requirements, but there is a basic standard that helped me make the conversion process simple and it’s easy to search for.  The basics:

1.      Set your font to New Times Roman and size 12

2.      Set one inch margins all the way around

3.      Set paragraphs to double space (with no extra space in-between paragraphs)

4.      Do not use all caps for emphasizing (the writing should set the tone)

5.      Do not use a bunch of returns for a new chapter to start on a new page.  Return twice, title your chapter center, return twice and begin the next chapter.

6.      For scene shifts, center XXXXX on a line by itself, with a space before and space after

7.      Internal direct thoughts should be in Italics, but don’t over use it.

            I suggest keeping your chapters in separate files when you first start writing.  It makes it easier to go back and edit work or add to chapters.  In the end, editor/publishers/agents will want this all in one file, but we have a lot more work to do before we get to that stage.  Strolling through a 1000 page document is not fun and left me frustrated.  I found separate chapters (and keeping all my drafts) was the best way to go.

            Now, I hope I’ve given some of you a jumping off point and we can all get some writing done.  It’s time to line the shelves with must reads and tales forgotten with new twists and turns.  We write because we must.  We write to unleash our souls.  We write because writing is our purpose.

Happy Writing…keep the questions coming. 

Shelly Goodman Wright

Author of A LIGHT INTO THE DARKNESS a Christian Suspense/Romance novel—FEB 2012

www.shellygoodmanwright.com

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What is your calling? Are you making time for it? - Author Shelly Goodman Wright

What is your calling? Are you making time for it? - Author Shelly Goodman Wright

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WHAT WAS THE FIRST NOVEL YOU READ?

I was in sixth grade when I read my first full-length novel.  Finally, the big kids on campus, we could checkout the books in the ‘BACK ROW” (we called it the forbidden row) and there was one cover that stood out for me.  The cover was haunting.  Sad pale faces with blonde hair stood behind an attic window and looked out.  Titled FLOWERS IN THE ATTIC, from the very beginning, I left my reality and jumped into the book.

The author V.C. Andrews had a way with words.  The way they flowed, the way they struck at my heart, how I cared deeply about the pain the children went through.  I’d go to sleep and dream about them.  Somehow, they seeped into my very soul. 

That is when I knew I wanted to be a writer.  I wanted my words, my worlds, and my characters to transport the reader into a different kind of reality.  I wanted them to feel the joy, the sadness, the struggles and the glory each time a character did. 

My mind never stops inventing them either.

Signing a contract deal for my first novel is a dream coming true.  It still seems unreal at this point and probably will be until that first printed book is in my hands. 

I hope after sometime and few more novels under my belt, to help others achieve the same goals.  I hope that when someone reads my novels, I will inspire someone as V.C. Andrews did for me.

Thanks again for the continued support and love. 

Happy Writing!

Shelly

**NOTE:  Although now, a mother of three girls and a Christian, I would not recommend the series by V.C. Andrews to read (even for adults) as they are filled with incest and adultery.  At the time, I faced a lot of trials in an unchristian home and I sought out reading as a comfort.  I wish I could say I read C.S. Lewis or some other uplifting author, but it is what it is.     

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God has a purpose for seventeen-year-old Jessica but it will take a swamp, immortal Cherokee Indians, and a trip to Hell for her to find it.

Jessica's sole purpose in life was to keep her father alive in the hope he would wake up from a coma and save her.  For eleven years, her mother pulls no punches in threatening to cut off his lifeline at any little sign of independence from her.  The biggest demand comes six months before her eighteenth birthday—to accept her mother’s choice for marriage or her father would die.        

Hours after agreeing to the arrangement, Jessica finds her father dead.  She’s devastated by the loss, but at least he was free from her mother’s cruelty.  Now, it is up to her to save herself.

That night a windstorm wakes her and draws her to the window.  An odd light illuminates the beach below in the moonless night.  Could it be the ghost of her father?  Maybe, but she is not sure she believes in all that spiritual nonsense, or does she?  Regardless, she follows the light that guides her to a world of the ageless and to the sacred territory of the Cherokee, deep in the Okefenokee Swamp. 

Three young men set their eyes on Jessica. 

One boy will steal her heart, one will try, and one will try to kill her.    

THIS BOOK IS UNDER CONTRACT AND WILL BEGIN PRODUCTION THIS SUMMER.  TO WALK WITH ME ON THIS JOURNEY, BECOME A FAN OF MY WEBSITE!


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