Out of the mouths of Lords: Smack Talk on Downton Abbey

By mcmckit on Mar 5, 2013

Like just about everyone else in America this winter, we have been watching Downton Abbey, mourning over the death of Sybil, relieved at the release of Mr. Bates, and simply loving the dowager countess played by Maggie Smith for every slight lift of her eyebrow. But we also view Downton as a guilty pleasure, one that isn’t quite worthy of the enjoyment we get out of it, like eating junk food. Until recently, we haven’t known exactly why we think Downton equates to a big Mac. Then, we heard UC Berkeley linguist Geoff Nunberg on NPR’s Fresh Air.

Nunberg says that Downton writer/creator Julian Fellowes made no effort to get the dialogue right for the time period. He says spotting modern-day expressions in the early 19th-century series is “as easy as shooting grouse in a barrel.” For instance: Lord Grantham says, “I couldn’t care less,” Thomas, the footman, complains that “our lot always gets shafted.” Cousin Matthew announces he has been on “a steep learning curve.” (Wikipedia cites “early” uses of the learning curve metaphor in 1998 and 2000.) Nunberg also says that Lord Grantham should have waited a couple of decades before telling his chauffeur to step on it since early cars did not have accelerator pedals.

Not only are Downton characters speaking in modern language, Nunberg says they are thinking modern thoughts:

“The earl who frets over his duties as a job creator, the servants grappling with their own homophobia — those are comfortable modern reveries. Drop any of them into a drawing-room comedy by Shaw or Pinero, and they’d be as out of place as a flat-screen TV…

“Those clangers are just too weirdly modern to ignore. It’s not that Fellowes lacks an ear for the speech of the Edwardian age; it’s that he doesn’t seem to have much of an ear for the speech of this one.”

In other words, Fellowes doesn’t hear it when he writes a bit of dialogue that isn’t true to the Downton era. But this is something for writers of historical fiction to pay attention to because audience members, often do hear the clinkers even if they don’t know what they are hearing exactly. Something just registers as wrong or even a bit inflammatory, hence, smack talk.

We live in an era of relentless fact checking. Getting the facts right didn’t matter so much before the internet, but now, it does. The web makes it easy to check up on the use of language. But it also makes it relatively easy for historical writers to get the language right in the first place.

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How to Write from Multiple Points of View When You Are Really Writing from One

By mcmckit on Feb 25, 2013

Most novels are written from a single character’s point of view. Think “Call me Ishmael” from MOBY DICK. Ishmael is the narrator of Herman Melville’s book and the story is told from his point of view. When you write a story from one character’s point of view, you put an instant limitation on yourself: you can only write what that character knows. This can make telling your story challenging because sometimes, in order to advance the plot, it is necessary to include information the point-of-view character doesn’t have.

While we were on vacation last week, we read a book that handles this problem in some inventive and hilarious ways. WHERE’D YOU GO, BERNADETTE by Maria Semple is told in the first person by eighth grader Bee Branch. But the focus of the story is Bee’s reclusive mother, Bernadette, who is in a world of her own. For instance, she outsources her chores to India. Rather than shop or go to the doctor or hire a landscaper, she e mails her virtual personal assistant. These transactions are an important part of the story and the narrator, Bee, originally knows nothing about them.

To get around this, Semple includes the actual e mails between Bernadette and her assistant:

From: Bernadette Fox
To: Manjula Kapoor

Oh! Could you make dinner reservations for us on Thanksgiving? You can call up the Washington Athletic Club and get us something for 7 PM for three. You are able to place calls aren’t you? Of course, what am I thinking? That’s all you people do now.
I recognize it is slightly odd to ask you to call from India to make a reservation for a place I can see out my window…

Semple’s book also includes letters, F.B.I. documents, correspondence with a psychiatrist and an emergency-room bill for a run-in between Bernadette and her neighbor. All these documents are collected, Semple tells us, and later delivered to Bee so she can include them in the story she is telling. Thus, Bee can report events that she didn’t know about when they happened. It’s really clever, as the New York Times review of the book noted:

“…these pieces are strung together so wittily that Ms. Semple’s storytelling is always front and center, in sharp focus. You could stop and pay attention to how apt each new format is, how rarely she repeats herself and how imaginatively she unveils every bit of information. But you would have to stop laughing first.”

If you read this book, stop laughing and pay attention to its construction. There is a lot to be learned.

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Ups and Downs of Writing and Publishing

By mcmckit on Feb 11, 2013

It is no secret to most of you that writing is an up and down experience, soaring to got-a-great-idea high and sinking to everything-sucks lows. Now a writer and blogger named Seth Godin has graphed the writing/publishing experience. “Joy” is the Y axis along the bottom:

You can find Seth’s blog and see hoe he describes the various phases of writing HERE.

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Stone bluff, Camp Fire: Setting the Scene

By mcmckit on Feb 4, 2013

Here from Cormac McCarthey’s THE ROAD is a dialogue that looks a lot like many we have been receiving to edit lately:

…You have to talk to me.
You wanted to know what the bad guys looked like. Now you know. It may happen again. My job is to take care of you. I was appointed to do that by God. Anyone who touches you. Do you understand?
Yes.
He sat there cowled in the blanket. After awhile he looked up. Are we still the good guys? he said.
Yes. We’re still the good guys.
And we always will be?
Yes. We always will be.
Okay.

We are not talking about McCarthy’s choice not to use punctuation. Rather, this snippet is familiar because by itself, it contains no context. The reader has no idea where these people are, who they are, and even, who is talking. This is like the dialogue balloons from a comic strip except that they don’t attach to an actual drawing. They just hang out there. We are constantly urging clients to set the scene, let the reader know where a conversation is taking place and to describe the people who are talking as they talk. Otherwise, readers are just lost.

The ROAD is the story of a stripped down, post-apocalyptic world. So McCarthy is keeping his language spare on purpose. But he does give the reader all necessary information. He establishes this pair is a father and son from the first line of the book. The reader also knows exactly where these two characters are when this conversation takes place and what time of day it is, because McCarthy has set the scene. Here is what precedes the dialogue above:

That night they camped in a ravine and built a fire against a small stone bluff and ate their last tin of food. He’d put it by because it was the boy’s favorite, pork and beans. They watched it bubble slowly in the coals and he retrieved the tin with the pliers and they ate in silence. He rinsed the empty tin with water and gave it to the child to drink and that was that. I should have been more careful, he said.
The boy didn’t answer
You have to talk to me…

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Avoiding “Picasso-style” Writing to Say What You Mean – Vonnegut

By mcmckit on Jan 28, 2013

It is so easy to be seduced by your own language, to be so taken with the way something you have written sounds that you completely miss the fact that it makes no sense. Almost everybody does it here and there. And then there are times when we, as editors, get lost in whole books that seem to be written like this. Occasionally we think we are losing our minds because the words are there in sentence format but they don’t add up to anything. We have to suss out what the writer really means to say.

We aren’t the only ones who think this sort of thing should be avoided by keeping it simple and being careful to say exactly what you mean. The late and famous author Kurt Vonnegut thought so too. Both appear in a list of eight Vonnegut writing rules in a book called HOW TO USE THE POWER OF THE PRINTED WORD by Malcolm Forbes. This must be some writing book because there is only one copy for sale on Amazon and the price is $998.98.

We got the list through a friend who found it on a website called Brain Pickings which describes itself as a “discovery engine for interestingness.” We do think Vonnegut is interesting and you can read all his writing rules HERE.

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Kid Lit: Advice from a Published Children’s Author

By mcmckit on Jan 21, 2013

We have lots of clients who write children’s books and are continually impressed by how difficult they are to write. Fewer words doesn’t mean an easier task; it means each word has to carry a big load and therefore has to be carefully weighed and chosen, a little like writing poetry.

Our friend, Karen Leggett Abouraya, knows a good deal about writing children’s books. Karen is the co-author, along with Susan L. Roth, of HANDS AROUND THE LIBRARY, PROTECTING EGYPT’S TREASURED BOOKS. This charming and charmingly illustrated book is the true story of how Egyptians stood together to save the Alexandria Library:

Our ancient Egyptian stories
are kept alive here,
in the books
and in the carved stone
and shimmering glass
of the building itself.
We were free inside the library
even when we were not free outside.

Guest blogging for us, Karen advises that children can be tough critics:

They can spot mistakes and inconsistencies or lose interest more quickly than you can read a limerick!

Know your audience – look at books in a library or book store intended for that audience. Are your language and situations appropriate for the age group you intend?

Test your stories with children and adults who are not your aunts, uncles, mothers, grandmothers, etc – if you have a friend who teaches the appropriate grade level, have the teacher read aloud all or a portion of the book and get suggestions from the kids. They are often very wise!

Sign up for a critique session at a conference of the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI, www.scbwi.org). There are chapters in nearly every major city; their conferences are usually inexpensive one-day events that feature useful presentations by authors and editors as well as critique sessions with actual editors. You won't get a contract at one of these sessions but you will get good ideas to improve your manuscript. You can join SCBWI before you have published any books; the SCBWI bimonthly Bulletin has lots of good articles on writing for kids.

Check out these websites for tips:

Children's Book Guild of Washington, D.C. – regular monthly luncheons have speakers who often provide good tips for writers and/or illustrators – check the luncheon schedule and also tips for writers at http://www.childrensbookguild.org/about-the-guild/faqs

Children's Writer Newsletter – regular information on writing, style,genres, markets http://www.childrenswriter.com/

Look for classes on children's writing at a local community college or The Writer's Center in Bethesda http://www.writer.org/

Read reviews of children's books in the New York Times or online to see what reviewers appreciate

Use Writer's Digest to help identify good places to submit a manuscript. Check each publisher's website for submission guidelines – some won't accept unsolicited manuscripts (only from agents); be sure to follow the submission guidelines.

If you are writing a picture book, submit only the manuscript – the publisher will find the artist. Only on rare occasions, when the publisher already knows the artist or the writer, will the two be able to collaborate on a book.

It can be useful to watch trends, but you have to identify a trend that will be long lasting – the time from submitting an idea to a publisher to seeing a book in print can be 1-2 years. Right now, and probably for several years, high quality nonfiction will be popular because the new Core Standards for public schools require much more nonfiction reading at all grade levels. Find out about high quality nonfiction at www.inkthanktank.com or among winners of the Children's Book Guild Nonfiction Award (see Nonfiction Award tab at www.childrensbookguild.org) or the Robert Sibert Nonfiction Award (http://www.ala.org/alsc/awardsgrants/bookmedia/sibertmedal)

Thank you, Karen!

Posted in: Blog

Structuring Your Story: Get Out the Picnic Table

By mcmckit on Jan 14, 2013

At the end of summer in 1996, the celebrated essayist John McPhee lay on a picnic table outside his back door for almost two weeks trying to begin a piece of writing for the New Yorker Magazine. As he writes in the January 14th edition of the magazine, he had never before been faced with writing a piece that had so many components: “characters, description, dialogue, narrative, set pieces, humor, history, science and so forth.”

This article that McPhee calls “Structure,” is a useful one to read for anyone faced with pulling it all together whether it all is an essay of the sort McPhee writes or something longer or even something fictional.

McPhee, who is renowned for pioneering creative nonfiction, writes that he was finally able to get off the picnic table when it occurred to him to begin his piece about New Jersey’s Pine Barrens with the first greeting of a man who lived there and took him on a tour of the forest. The tour then allowed McPhee to touch on all the other Barrens related topics he wanted to include.

So, it took him two weeks flat out on a picnic table to figure out he should begin his piece at what seems like an obvious beginning. But anybody who has ever had to write anything knows how complex these organizational questions can be.

McPhee says each of his pieces is a balancing act between chronology and theme. Time usually wins out so that most of his pieces – but not all – are related in sequence. In the article, he shows (complete with diagrams) how he organized some of his essays. In one, time runs backwards. In another, he uses a tour of a room in an art gallery to upend time all together and write about a man as if parts of his life are hung there but in no particular order.

Before a friend devised a computer program for him, McPhee structured his pieces manually. In one case, he spread thirty-six three-by-five cards out on a makeshift plywood table and left them there for two weeks until they more or less jumped into order for him. Another of his methods involved typing up all his notes for an essay, then cutting them into strips and arranging the strips in folders. Each folder represented a section of his piece so he could open the appropriate folder when he got to that part and write to the enclosed notes.

McPhee’s subject matter has been eclectic, including: the Alaskan wilderness, freight transportation, geology, profiles of well-known people and even, oranges. In his long career, he says he never developed the confidence that he could pull the next piece together: “To lack confidence at the outset seems rational to me. It doesn’t matter that something you’ve done before worked out well. Your last piece is never going to write your next one for you.”

Whether you lie on your table or spread it with note cards, structuring is an important process. There are lots of ways to tell a story and they can make a huge difference to the story being told.

Posted in: Blog

Going to Lose Ten Pounds Worth of Words: New Year’s Writing Resolutions

By mcmckit on Jan 7, 2013

Every year, we resolve never to suggest New Year’s writing resolutions to our clients and readers. And we are not doing it this year either. But out of curiosity, we have taken an informal web survey of New Year’s resolutions for writers; there are lots out there.

Most suggest pretty much the same things: setting aside time for writing, doing a bit every day, keeping a journal, and reading books. These I-am-going-to-lose-ten-pounds type of resolutions seem likely to bring on full-fledged writer’s block. Either you write this way or you don’t; tying yourself in knots to change what is natural seems worse than counterproductive: destructive.

More sensible to us is a list by historical fiction writer Kate Quinn published in Goodreads. She cast an editor’s eye on her work and resolved to shorten her sentences, avoid at least one romantic cliche per book, not to let her characters shrug anymore and to avoid redheads. You can see her list HERE.

For memoirists, this list was published last week in “Huffington Post” by Theo Pauline Nestor, who teaches memoir writing:

1. This year I will make myself vulnerable on the page.
2. This year I will share wisdom in my writing.
3. This year I will not shun drama.
4. This year I will seek to illuminate the universal aspects of my story.

Break out the Prozac. Or, take a look at the list of bad resolutions for writers from Bill and Dave’s Cocktail Hour blog. It includes this:

Stop writing this year. Just quit. You can do it. Writing’s an addiction.

Okay, so not that one. If you have any, what are your writing resolutions this year?

Posted in: Blog

A New Year’s toast to you, our authors!

By mcmckit on Dec 31, 2012

Two thousand twelve has been a banner year at the Word Process – and we owe it all to you, our authors. We have been privileged to work on some wonderful books this year. We have traveled from a small village in Togo to the horrific civil war in Liberia to the wilds of Patagonia through your work – and it has been quite a ride.

We have learned from your non-fiction books about evil, politics, metropolitan overcrowding, the spiritual side of yoga and its effect on stress, staying in shape, dealing with serious illness, being a good mother and still taking care of yourself, and dieting.

Your memoirs have made us laugh and cry. We have edited true stories that trace a family’s Civil War roots, describe growing up in Attapulgus, Georgia, and lay out the horrors of survival in crack infested DC. We have worked on the autobiographies of a major sports team owner, a famous journalist, and a doctor, whose own experience with epilepsy, has informed her practice.

But most of all, the year of the dragon has been the year of the novel here at the Word Process. Your work has included stories about the CIA run amuck, the evil of pharmaceutical multinationals, foreign and homegrown terrorists, an international television network, a spa for the well-heeled, a sci-fi post-apocalyptic southwest, a housewife who takes Hollywood by storm, Sicily in the 19th century, magical realism in the 18th century and a variety of clever murder mysteries.

We have worked in every fiction genre. We have been transported to fantasy worlds and settled in here at home with mainstream fiction. We have reviewed children’s books about dog and cat pals, a hedgehog and his pine tree home, and a pair of hummingbirds that make friends with a group of children.

You have had a great publishing year as the postings on our Facebook page attest. Some of you have found traditional publishers and numerous others have self-published. Others are working with agents or in the process of publishing. It has been exciting to see your books in print and to post your accomplishments as our trophies.

As always, we are in awe of your dedication, your discipline, your prolific-ness, your enthusiasm, your various talents and most of all…your stories. We want to offer you our heartfelt thanks and a round of applause. None of you is paid for writing. You do it in your spare time, often in addition to working a full-time job, and you work hard at it. You can be sure of no reward; the desire to tell your story, fiction or non-fiction, keeps you at it.

So, to all our authors and would-be authors: skip the resolutions and just continue to follow your muses. We can’t wait to see what you produce in 2013.

For last year's words belong to last year's language
And next year's words await another voice.
And to make an end is to make a beginning.

~T.S. Eliot, "Little Gidding"

Posted in: Blog

Comfort and Community: The Power of Words

By mcmckit on Dec 18, 2012

Two and a half weeks ago, we attended a memorial service for a dear friend. Our friend was very close to a young poet named Jennifer Bates, and Jennifer wrote the eulogy, a glorious prose poem that evoked the essence of our departed friend and for that moment, brought her back to hold in our hearts. It was a well attended service in a Vermont funeral home. As Jennifer read, listeners periodically nodded and wiped away tears.

Afterwards at a reception, we asked Jennifer about her poetry career – she had a book of poems published by the University of Florida in 1998. She said she has not found the energy to gather up a new collection of poems for another venture into publishing. Anyway, Jennifer added, “It doesn’t get better than this.” By this, she meant reading her work to an audience, who completely understood it and deeply appreciated it. It was one of these rare occasions when writer and audience were on the exact same page.

We felt privileged to have been there, to have shared in the experience and allowed it give to voice to our grief. Words are so important at times like that – and they do not have to be hitched to a publisher’s star to work their magic.

We are not going to share Jennifer’s eulogy with you because it wouldn’t have the same resonance in any other place or time. But here, from her book, FIRST NIGHT OUT OF EDEN, is more of her work:

To a Friend Whose Work Has Come to This

It’s never been easy between us, but here
in these wicker chairs,
rain falling just beyond the screens,
your words knit the air:                                                          
reconcile suspect victim incest
No memories yet.
You’re planning to write your lost story
as it unknots at your touch.

A friend once told me:
if you can’t assign logical meaning
to a character in your dream,
you must assume it represents an aspect of yourself.
Dear friend, I am still writing my story
so if I give you advice, listen only
to the thorny, cardamom-sweet
throb of empathy under my words.
Listen to my hand on your arm.

You will find that nothing
is as they told you. You will find
that nothing is as you imagined,
turning back
past the locked doors
down the narrowing passage of childhood
which once seemed an open field.

The rope of memory frays,
but the story is there, whole, at the core.
Remember, as you go,
your raveled voice speaking over the rain
as we sit here, now, in the wicker chairs,
the vaulted roof over our heads.
Remember your voice
telling me this
as I listened, and the rain.

Posted in: Blog