Tag Archives: writing

June 17, 2024 · 6:00 am

My checklist for creating societies #writing

Worldbuilding involves far more than the visible environment. We know worlds are comprised of plants, animals, and geology. But if intelligent life forms live in that world, societies will also exist.

WritingCraftWorldbuildingIntelligent creatures communicate in their own languages with each other, sounds that we humans interpret as random and meaningless or simply mating calls. But scientists are discovering their vocalizations must have meanings beyond attracting a mate, words that are understood by others of their kind. This is evident in the way they form herds and packs and flocks, societies with rules and hierarchies.

The BBC says that AI is learning the language patterns of other species. How will that change our view of the world? Will the Powers That Be persist in the view that humans are the only species with internal lives and emotional connections? How artificial intelligence is helping us talk to animals (bbc.com)

So, let’s talk about worldbuilding.

mindwanderingLIRF02212023We humans are tribal. We prefer living within an overarching power structure (a society) because someone has to be the leader. We call that power structure a government.

As a society, the habits we develop, the gods we worship, the things we create and find beautiful, and the foods we eat are evidence of our culture.

If your society is set in modern suburbia, that culture and those values will affect your characters’ view of their world. You will still have to build that world on paper. But the information and maps are all readily available, perhaps in your backyard.

If your story is set on another world, alternate earth, or even in a different era, you must create the background material to show your world logically and without contradictions. Are there specific places or environments where the different fantasy or alien races exist?

A common trope of fantasy is that elves are close to nature and prefer to live in the forests. If you have other races coexisting with humans, you need to make a map. Where do their territories border your protagonist’s country? Are they at peace with one another? How does this affect your story?

sample-of-rough-sketched-mapWorldbuilding requires us to ask questions of the story we are writing. I go somewhere quiet and consider the world my characters will inhabit. I have a list of points to consider when creating a society, and you’re welcome to copy and paste it to a page you can print out. Jot the answers down and refer back to them if the plot raises one of these questions.

Merchants, scientists, priests, soldiers, teachers, healers, thieves – no matter the setting, how is your society divided? Who has the wealth?

  • Is there a noble class?
  • Is there a servant class?
  • Is there a merchant class?
  • Is there a large middle class?
  • Who makes up the most impoverished class?
  • Who has the power, men or women—or is it a society based on mutual respect?

Ethics and Values: What constitutes morality, and how do we treat each other? Is marriage required?

  • How are women treated?
  • How are men treated?
  • How are the different races viewed?
  • Is there a cisgender bias or an acceptance of different gender identities?
  • How are same-sex relationships viewed?
  • How are unmarried sexual relationships seen in the eyes of society?
  • How important is human life?
  • How is murder punished?
  • How are betrayal, hypocrisy, envy, and avarice looked upon?
  • What about drunkenness?
  • How important is honesty?
  • What constitutes immorality?
  • How important is it to be seen as honest and trustworthy?
  • What is taboo? What is “simply not done” among that group?

Power structures are hierarchies and chains of command. A government is an overall system of restraint and control among selected members of a group. Think of it as a pyramid, a few at the top ruling over a broad base of citizens.

Excalibur London_Film_Museum_ via Wikipedia

Excalibur London_Film_Museum_ via Wikipedia

In a medieval-type society, the accepted age for when a child becomes legally an adult will be much younger than we consider it today. When the majority of people die before the age of forty, adulthood comes at the same time as puberty. Fourteen- and fifteen-year-olds have minimal life experience. They let their hormones do the thinking and are quick-tempered and volatile. When a teenager becomes king or queen, and all of their advisors are also teenagers or in their early thirties at most, a country could suffer. The ruling class might be uncaring of how their decisions affect the lower classes.

Wars take the laborers out of the fields and put them on the front lines, limiting food production. While this hurts everyone, it destroys trade, ruining the merchant class. War falls heaviest upon the peasant class, but the middle class pays most of the taxes. Without a good-sized middle class, one can’t pay an army.

Religion can be a sci-fi trope and often figures prominently in fantasy work. In sci-fi, science and technology frequently take the place of religion or are at odds with it. They both have similar hierarchies and fanatics but with different job titles.

Archbishop might be replaced with Head of Research and Development.

Cardinal or Pope might be replaced with General, Admiral, or CEO (Chief Executive Officer).

Level of Technology: no matter the setting, each occupation has a specific technology. What tools and amenities are available to them? What about transport?

  1. Hunter/Gatherers?
  2. Agricultural/farming?
  3. Greco-Roman metallurgy and technology?
  4. Medieval metallurgy and technology?
  5. Pre-industrial revolution or late Victorian?
  6. Modern-day?
  7. Or do they have a magic-based technology?
  8. How do we get around, and how do we transport goods? On foot, by horse & wagon, train, or space shuttle?

Government: There will be a government somewhere, even if it is just the local warlord. Someone is always in charge because it’s easier for the rest of us that way:

  1. Is it a monarchy, theocracy, or a democratic form of government?
  2. How does the government fund itself?
  3. How are taxes levied?
  4. Is it a feudal society?
  5. Is it a clan-based society?
  6. How does the government use and share the available wealth?
  7. How do the citizens view the government?

Crime and the Legal System: What constitutes criminal behavior, and how are criminals treated?

Foreign Relations: Does your country coexist well with its neighbors?

  • If not, why? What causes the tension?

Waging War: This is another area where we have to ask what their level of technology is. Do the research and choose weaponry that fits your established level of technology.

  • What kind of weaponry will they use?
  • How are they trained?
  • Who goes to battle? Men, women, or both?
  • How does social status affect your ability to gain rank in the military?

A common trope in fantasy is magic, which brings up the need to train magic-gifted people. Do your sorcerers/mages rely on

  • dumb luck and experimentation?
  • apprenticing to sorcerers?
  • training by religious orders?
  • or, as in the case of Harry Potter, a school of some sort? What are the rules of your magic?

The Church/Temple is the governing power in many real-world historical societies. The head of the religion is the ruler, and the higher one rises within the religious organization, the more power one has. The same is true of both universities and research facilities.

Author-thoughtsPower in the hands of only a few people offers many opportunities for mayhem. Zealous followers may inadvertently create a situation where the populace believes their ruler has been anointed by the Supreme Deity. Even better, they may become the God-Emperor/Empress.

Some people are prone to excess when presented with the opportunity to become all-powerful.

Brainstorming worldbuilding is a good exercise if you have a character with a story that needs to be written. If you were unsure what your plot was before you got to this stage, now you might have a real villain, one presented to you by your society.

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June 10, 2024 · 6:00 am

The Impact of Names in #writing

Things have been a bit crazy here at Casa del Jasperson. When your spouse has Parkinson’s, life occasionally gets out of control, and writing falls to the bottom of the to-do list. Everything narrows to dealing with the emergency at hand. That is how things have been here; I’ve been in crisis mode for two months now, but life is settling into a new normal—as much as anything here will ever be.

MyWritingLife2021Talking about the craft of writing is soothing, something with solid rules. When everything else is chaos, writing is there, offering safety and escape.

I have been spending a lot of time in hospitals and waiting rooms, reading. One particular novel I just finished was—how shall I say this? Good in many ways but supremely difficult to follow.

One of the least of its problems was the number of named characters. I understand how that happens. When laying down a manuscript’s first draft, I tend to give every walk-on a name, right down to the dog.

However, in the second draft, I try to shave my cast of thousands down to a reasonable level. If I miss a few that are just fluff, my writing group will point them out.

This brings up the question of the optimal number of main characters for a book. Some say only four, others fifteen. In my opinion, you should introduce however many characters it takes to tell the story but use common sense.

I have three rules for deciding who should be named and who should not.

name quote, richard II shakespeareFirst, is this character someone the reader should remember? Even if they offer information the protagonist and reader must know, it doesn’t necessarily mean they must be named. Walk-through characters provide clues to help our protagonist complete their quest, but we never see them again. They can show us something about the protagonist and give hints about their personality or past—but when they are gone, they are forgotten.

Second, does the person return later in the story, or are they part of the scenery of, say, a coffee shop or a store? They don’t need a name if they are only a component of world-building.

Third, we should only give names to characters who return more than once to advance the plot or show us something important about people or places.

  • For example, perhaps a homeless woman who lives in the alley behind the protagonist’s apartment is seen three or four times over the course of the story. She is part of the scenery and might go by a name or not. As a way to show a compassionate side to our main character, they might take her coffee or sandwiches and worry when the weather is too cold or too hot. In return, the old lady might care about them and offer a bit of street gossip, which could be useful.

In my experience as a reader, the pacing an author is trying to establish comes to a halt when a character who is only included for the ambiance has too much time devoted to them.

When we are writing a scene that involves characters who are just set-dressing, we should ask these questions:

  • Do these people help or hinder the protagonist in some crucial way?
  • Do they provide essential background information we won’t get any other way?
  • Is their presence a necessary part of world-building?

storybyrobertmckeeNovelists can learn a lot from screenwriters about writing good, concise scenes. An excellent book on crafting scenes is Story by Robert McKee.

We want the reader to stay focused on the protagonist(s) and their story. We can remove side characters from the scene if they have nothing to contribute. Walk-on characters can be identified in general terms by their dress or appearance. The reader will move on and forget about them.

But how do names play out in real life? I’ve mentioned this before, but in my family, “Robert” is a recurring name.

My father was named Robert, and my two brothers are both named Robert (with different middle names). My mother’s younger brother is also a Robert, so yes, Bob’s my uncle.

My younger brother’s son is named Robert, and so is his son. We have a Bob, a Little Bob, a Rob, a Bobby, a Robby, and a Quatro. Two Bobs are no longer with us, but the confusion continues with each new generation of Roberts in our family.

BNF Front Cover 1I took this absurdity to an extreme in Billy Ninefingers. In Waldeyn, the most common boy’s name is William, which is why Billy MacNess embraces the name his mercenaries give him after the injury – Billy Ninefingers. In that novel, anyone named William (and there are a lot of them) generally goes by their last name or their trade. Think Mason, Sawyer, etc., etc.

Other than Billy Ninefingers, where the overuse of one name was intentional and integral to the story, my rule is “NEVER name two characters so that the first and last letters of their names are the same.”

I try never to have two names that begin with the same letter. However, since there are only twenty-six letters in the alphabet, some repetition of first letters might occur.

How do we decide who should go and who should stay? And what is the optimal number of characters for a book?

There is no hard and fast rule. I feel an author should introduce however many characters it takes to tell the story but should also use common sense.

namesOne final thing to consider is this: how will that name be pronounced when read aloud? You may not think this matters, but it does. Audiobooks are becoming more popular than ever. You want to write it so a narrator can easily read that name aloud.

And that brings up the problem of reading aloud. I read Tad Williams’ Memory Sorrow and Thorn series aloud to my youngest daughter when she was old enough to appreciate and understand it. I was too cheap to pay for cable television, and it kept her from being bored. I will just say that while his narrative is brilliant and engrossing, many of those names took some practice to say without stumbling.

Did I mention that names are also a component of world-building? Well, they are. Names offer an image of place and time.

This worked against me in one major way. While recording Tales from the Dreamtime, a novella consisting of three fairy tales, my narrator had trouble pronouncing the names of two characters. This happened because I had invented names that felt foreign and looked good on paper.

Dragonbone_ChairDespite my experience of reading fantasy books aloud to my children, it didn’t occur to me that the names were unpronounceable as they were written. We ironed that out, but that hiccup taught me to spell names the way they’re pronounced whenever possible.

In conclusion, don’t confuse your readers by giving unimportant walk-on characters names.

Never give two characters names that are nearly identical.

Consider making the spellings of names and places easily pronounceable because you might decide to have your novel made into an audiobook.

And whatever else you do, go forth and write! Create those worlds and wonderful people and tell those stories. Those of us in waiting rooms and sitting by hospital beds will be grateful that you did.

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June 3, 2024 · 6:00 am

Revisiting ‘that and which,’ two commonly misused words #writing

Grammar is still on my mind, and so today we are revisiting a post from August 17, 2017. While English is a language that constantly evolves, nothing has changed since this post was written.

MyWritingLife2021That and which are words we commonly misuse in real-life conversations. This habit rolls over into our writing because we are unsure which word is the right one for the job. Also, there is a LOT of talk in writing groups about unnecessary words, so we might get a bit crazy and take an ax to each instance of the word “that.”

When it comes to eliminating the word “that,” it’s crucial you look at each example of how it is used.  Sometimes, “that” is the only word for a given situation.

Don’t gut your prose just because some online guru tells you “that” is an unnecessary pronoun. If you remove every instance of the word “that” you’ll end up with a mess on your hands.

Something you need to know: “that” and “which” are not interchangeable so you can’t just use a global search to change every instance of “that” to “which.”

“That” is a pronoun used to identify a specific person or thing observed by the speaker, a determiner, an adverb, and a conjunction.

  1. “That’s his dog on the curb.” (Identifier)
  2. “Look at that red car.” (Determiner)
  3. “I wouldn’t go that far.” (Adverb)
  4. “She claimed that she was married.” (Conjunction)

In the case of number 4, the sentence would be stronger without it. Most of the time, the prose is made stronger when the word “that” is cut and not replaced with anything.

I say most, but not all of the time.

fitzgerald-great gatsby memeUse common sense and if a beta reader runs amok in your manuscript telling you to remove “this and that,” examine each instance of what has their undies in a twist and try to see why they are pointing it out.

There are cases where the word “that” is the only one that works. When do we use the word “that?” We use it when we have something called a ‘Restrictive Clause’:

Quote from Grammar Girl, “A restrictive clause is just part of a sentence that you can’t get rid of because it specifically restricts some other part of the sentence.”  She goes on to give a specific example of a restrictive clause: “Gems that sparkle often elicit forgiveness.”  See?  Not just any gems elicit forgiveness in this sentence. Only gems that sparkle bring about clemency. In this sentence, forgiveness is restricted to one kind of gem.

“Which” is a pronoun asking for information. It specifies one or more people (or things) from a particular set, and it is also a determiner:

  1. “Which are the best diapers for newborns?” (Pronoun)
  2. “I’m looking at a house which is for sale on Black Lake.” (Determiner)

Go lightly with “which” and “that” but use them when they are required.

The same common-sense approach goes for “very.” I seldom need to use it, but I do when it’s required. However, some people employ it too frequently, and it’s rarely needed, fluffing up the word count. As with every word, there are times when it’s the only one that will convey an idea crucial to your story.

Mark Twain had a perfect comment regarding overusing “very.”

“Substitute ‘damn’ every time you’re inclined to write ‘very;’ your editor will delete it, and the writing will be just as it should be.”

I’d love to be that editor.

to err is human to edit divineMany writers have beta readers look at their work before it is submitted. I would also suggest hiring a freelance editor. Besides having a person pointing out where you need to insert or delete a comma, hiring a freelance editor is a good way to discover many other things you don’t want to include in your manuscript, things you are unaware are in there:

  • They will point out when you use too many quantifiers “It was really big.” “It was incredibly awesome.”
  • Places where you “tell” the story instead of showing it: “Bert was mad.”
  • They will mention it when you swamp the reader with minute details: “Mary’s eyebrows drew together, her lips turned down, and her cheeks popped a dimple.”
  • They will comment when you ruin the taste of your work with prettily written descriptors: “-ly” words
  • They will make a comment when your characters natter on about nothing just to kill time.

ok to write garbage quote c j cherryhFreelance editors will point out these all things. We don’t like it when certain flaws in our work are pointed out, but we are better off knowing what needs addressing. When an editor guides you away from detrimental writing habits, they aren’t trying to change your voice. They’ve seen something good in your work, and they’re pointing out places where you can tighten it up and grow as a writer.

Remember, voice is how you use syntax, diction, punctuation, character development, and dialogue. When you receive an editor’s comments, it might sting, but in the process, you will develop better, more consistent writing habits.

Quoted Sources

Quick and Dirty Tips,  The Grammar Girl, Which vs. That, http://www.quickanddirtytips.com/education/grammar/which-versus-that-0 © Mignon Fogarty, 2008-2024.

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May 27, 2024 · 6:00 am

Revisiting the Apostrophe #writing

Some questions have been raised in an online writing group about the use and abuse of apostrophes, so I thought this would be a good day to revisit a post from February of 2019. Nothing has changed, and apostrophes remain as useful and confusing for new writers today as they were then. Hopefully, this rant will clear the murky waters of one of the English grammar’s most useful punctuations, the apostrophe.

The apostrophe has many uses, but I will only delve into the most common ways we use it in creative writing today.

comma or apostropheIn creative writing, the apostrophe is a small morsel of punctuation that, on the surface, seems simple. However, certain common applications can be confusing, so as we get to those I will try to be as concise and clear as possible.

First up, we all know that we use the apostrophe to denote possession:

  • This is George’s cat. (George owns this cat.)
  • This is Jorgensen’s cat. (A person who is going by the surname of Jorgensen owns the cat.)

Where this gets a little tricky is in the possessive form of a surname when it refers to the whole family. In this case, you insert a grammatical article (the) and make the name plural, and then add the apostrophe:

  • This is the Jorgensens’ cat. (The Jorgensen family owns the cat.)

If the Jorgensen family have a sign made for their front porch, they would have it made to read “The Jorgensens’ Home” (not “The Jorgensen’s Home,” as that would imply that only one Jorgensen lives there, and his legal name is “The Jorgensen.”)

When two or more people (or other entities such as businesses) are described as separately owning something, each name should be in the possessive form:

  • “Ralph’s and Janet’s cars are the same model.”

However, if Ralph and Janet share a possession, include an apostrophe and an s after the last name only:

  • “Ralph and Janet’s car is a Prius.”

In some cases, we need to use plurals of abbreviations. In a military thriller, you might need to say, “They disarmed several IEDs.” (We would not use an apostrophe.)

Writing a year numerically has been an area of confusion for me. This is because I rarely have had to write years in this way until recently and the use of an apostrophe for this is now considered outdated. However, this is how they should be written:

  • The tavern culture of the 1600s was flourishing. (1600’s would not be considered incorrect, just old fashioned.)
  • Dresses in the 1960s were shorter than in previous years.

An apostrophe should follow a number only if it is possessive.

  • It was 1985’s worst storm. (Some editors feel this is awkward, but I let it stand when I see it in a client’s manuscript.)

Numbers are frequently written numerically when writing books for middle grade and YA readers, as these stories often center around schools and sports.

A single digit, such as 7, is made plural with the addition of an s: 7s

Insert an apostrophe to denote possession when you must use a number to stand in for a person in an article, such as when an athlete is identified by a uniform number:

  • Number 8’s tackle won the day.

Contractions can be confusing. Two words made into one word are joined by an apostrophe:

  • Do not = don’t
  • We are = we’re
  • You are = you’re
  • They are = they’re

And so on. A list of contractions to watch for can be found at the fount of all knowledge, Wikipedia: Wikipedia: List of English contractions

Conjunctions also can be tricky.  Simply add an s, such as in the phrase “There are no ifs, ands, or buts about it” or “A list of dos and don’ts follows.” We do keep the contractive apostrophe in don’t and simply add an s to make it plural.

Sometimes a single letter looks awkward when we just use an s to indicate plurality.

  • “How many h’s do you spell shh with?” (just writing “hs” would look odd and be confusing.)

When pluralizing capital letters, we don’t use an apostrophe: Mike earned three Ds in English this year but still passed the class.

In a narrative, the two most common missions that apostrophes have are to denote possession or indicate a contraction.

  • Who’s is the contraction of “who is” or, less commonly, “who has.”
  • Whose is the possessive of “who” or, somewhat controversially, “which.”
  • Their(s) is the possessive of “they.” (They’re proud to own it, it’s theirs, and it’s not there.)
  • Its is the possessive of “it,” and “it’s” is a contraction of it is.

Note that for both they and it, there is no apostrophe in the possessive form.

  • The texture of the wall —it’s rough. (contraction: it is rough.)
  • I scratched myself on its surface. (possession: the wall’s surface.)

In most English words an apostrophe indicates possession but can also indicate a contraction. The difficulty arises in the fact that both it and they are frequently part of contracted words.

In the effort to standardize English usage, early linguists made a choice to eliminate the apostrophe in the possessive form. They did this in the (futile) hope of ending confusion.

  • It’s is the contraction of “it is” and sometimes “it has.”
  • Its denotes possession: It owns it.
  • Their: they own it
  • They’re: they are

As with so many things that “seemed like a good idea at the time,” its and it’s will always cause problems for new and beginning writers. Inadvertent misuse happens even for old hands like me when I’m zipping along laying down the first draft of a manuscript.

We have to be vigilant and ensure we have looked for proper usage of its and it’s during revisions. Even the big traditional publishing houses admit sneaky errors like those like to go unnoticed until after publication.

In closing, the most common uses of the apostrophe aren’t too difficult once we learn the rules. Remember, apostrophes are integral parts of the traffic control system, signals that keep your words moving along at the right rate. Using them the way they are intended (and which readers expect) keeps the reader from throwing your book away.

I always suggest you set some time aside for writing new words every day, even if only for fifteen minutes. When we force ourselves to think about and use the basic rules of grammar regularly, we retain what we have learned.

This post first appeared on Life in the Realm of Fantasy on 13 Feb 2019 as The Apostrophe. https://conniejjasperson.com/2019/02/13/the-apostrophe-amwriting/

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May 20, 2024 · 6:00 am

English – a Language Full of Bothersome Words #writing

I love words. I love the way they rhyme, the way they sound, and the way they feel when they roll off the tongue of a gifted narrator. I love words that sound alike but mean different things, words that describe colors, smells, and sounds.

I love words.

MyWritingLife2021The English language is full of words that mean the same as other words. Even common names are like that. For instance, “Jones” is a surname of Welsh origin that dates back to the Middle Ages. It means “John’s son.” So, Jones is Welsh for Johnson, and the two usages evolved on the same island.

Who knew? Jones seems so dissimilar to Johnson that I (an American) would never have guessed.

In a strange twist of irony, English is also full of words that sound nearly alike and look very similar but mean very different things. Even though many of these words are often used interchangeably in casual conversation, they are NOT alike or similar in meaning.

I always notice when an author confuses near-homophones. That is the technical term for words that sound closely alike, are spelled differently, and have different meanings. When we read widely, we’re more likely to notice the difference between words like accept and except when they are written.

wordsThe different meanings of seldom-used sound-alike words can become blurred among people who have little time to read. They don’t see how a word is written, so they speak it the way they hear it. This is how wrong usage becomes part of everyday English.

For this reason, new and beginning writers often don’t realize the ways in which they habitually misuse common words until they begin to see the differences in how they are written.

Let’s look at two of the most commonly confused words: accept and except. People, even those with some higher education, frequently mix these two words up in their casual conversation.

Accept (definition) to take or receive (something offered); receive with approval or favor.

  • I accept this award.
  • We should accept this proposal.

Except (definition) not including, other than, leave out, exclude.

  • We’re old, present company excepted.
  • Everyone is welcome, with the exclusion of drunks and other miscreants.

Used together in one sentence, they look like this:

We accept that our employees work every day except Sunday.

The following quote is one I have used before, but it’s a good one, so I’ll just repeat myself here.

Farther vs. Further: (Grammar Tips from a Thirty-Eight-Year-Old with an English Degree | The New Yorker by Reuven Perlman, posted February 25, 2021:

Farther describes literal distance; further describes abstract distance. Let’s look at some examples:

  • I’ve tried the whole “new city” thing, each time moving farther away from my hometown, but I can’t move away from . . . myself (if that makes sense?).

  • How is it possible that I’m further from accomplishing my goals now than I was five years ago? Maybe it’s time to change goals? [1]

Consider these three very different words:

  • Ensure
  • Insure
  • Assure

Ensure: When we use these sound-alike words, we want to ensure (make certain something happens) that we are using them correctly.

ozford-american-writers-thesaurusInsure: We insure our home and auto. In other words, we arrange for compensation in the event of damage or loss of property or the injury to (or the death of) someone. We arrange for compensation should the family breadwinner die (life insurance). Also, we arrange to pay in advance for medical care we may need in the future (health insurance).

Assure: We assure our listeners that everything is correct. In other words, we explain things in a way that dispels any doubts our listeners may have. If we have to, we reassure them by explaining it twice.

It never hurts to have a wide vocabulary, but we must know the meaning and correct uses of words. For the moment, let’s not worry about grandiose (magnificent, complex, ostentatious, pretentious) words that only inflate our prose. We who write must learn how to use all our words accurately and in a context that says what we mean.

The words listed in the following image are often used interchangeably in common speech, and while it may sound normal when your friend says persecute when she means prosecute, incorrect usage conveys the wrong meaning.

Homophones and near homophones

I think it helps if a writer is also a poet. When writing a narrative, we have room for a lot more words, which can lead to inflated prose. But when writing poetry, we must do more with less, so the words we choose must have a visual, sensory impact.

Isn’t that what we hope to achieve with all our work?

I have one manuscript in the final revision stage and am working on shrinking the prose while conveying the story. The real struggle for me is achieving uninflated yet visual prose.

oxford_synonym_antonymI have a lot of words to choose from, and the Oxford Dictionary of Synonyms and Antonyms to help me out. It’s full to overflowing with lovely, visual, sensory words, and like an addict, I have the urge to use them all.

But I won’t. Today, I will write lean, descriptive prose. If I don’t, my editor will ensure that I pare the fluff down.

Discipline feels good.

Credits and Attributions:

[1] Farther vs. Further: (Grammar Tips from a Thirty-Eight-Year-Old with an English Degree | The New Yorker by Reuven Perlman, posted February 25, 2021 (accessed 18 May 2024).

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May 6, 2024 · 6:00 am

When life hands you lemmings #writing #Parkinsons

Forget the lemons—anyone can make lemonade. Lemons arrive one or two at a time.

Lemmings arrive in droves.

MyWritingLife2021BWhen your spouse has Parkinson’s, problems tend to arrive en masse, like an unstoppable horde of lemmings. Dealing with life’s lemmings requires a bit more creativity than merely making a cool, relaxing drink. While you may never gain control of the migrating mob, you must somehow steer them in the right direction.

Lemmings are interesting little creatures who sometimes migrate collectively—herds of cute, furry rodents naïvely leaving home in search of better pastures. And just like the historical myths about wolves, the lore about them contains as much misinformation and downright cruelty as it does truth.

Herd_Mentality_1Wikipedia says:

Lemmings have become the subject of a widely popular misconception that they are driven to commit mass suicide when they migrate by jumping off cliffs. It is not a deliberate mass suicide, in which animals voluntarily choose to die, but rather a result of their migratory behavior. Driven by strong biological urges, some species of lemmings may migrate in large groups when population density becomes too great. They can swim and may choose to cross a body of water in search of a new habitat. In such cases, many drown if the body of water is an ocean or is so wide as to exceed their physical capabilities. Thus, the unexplained fluctuations in the population of Norwegian lemmings, and perhaps a small amount of semantic confusion (suicide not being limited to voluntary deliberation, but also the result of foolishness), helped give rise to the popular stereotype of the suicidal lemmings, particularly after this behaviour was staged in the Walt Disney documentary White Wilderness in 1958.

The misconception itself is much older, dating back to at least the late 19th century. In the August 1877 issue of Popular Science Monthly, apparently suicidal lemmings are presumed to be swimming the Atlantic Ocean in search of the submerged continent of Lemuria. [1]

Thus, some 19th-century scientists were quite imaginative as storytellers and got their fantasy stories published that way. If only it was so easy today!

herd_mentalityBut back to the lemmings. We know how mob mentality works in humans, and it seems to happen in other creatures.

Events in life sometimes occur the way that an unsafe crowd surge at a concert does. Events and incidents pile up and press you, requiring more time and attention than one person has available. I suspect that sometimes, the unfortunate lemmings in the front of the pack are inadvertently shoved into danger by the unstoppable crush of the crowd behind them, and the rest follow, unaware of their peril.

For the caregiver, living with Parkinson’s is like that. It’s difficult to watch someone you love experience a series of declines that you are helpless to avert. Incidents happen that must be handled, and everything takes twice as long as we think it should.

When it’s all-hands-on-deck, everything else gets kicked to one side.

Here at Casa del Jasperson, giving my husband the assistance he needs has become a lot more involved than it was a year ago. Rising above the landslide of suggestions and well-meaning advice from friends and acquaintances that has become a buzz of white noise, I frequently hear the mantra, “Take care of yourself too.”

Sure. Thank you for that observation. Self-care is easier said than done, but lightening my commitment load will help.

medical symbolTwo weeks ago, my husband fell, sustaining a minor injury. Two days later, he was fighting off an infection, and we spent last Saturday in Urgent Care from 8:00 am to 7:00 pm. Rather than put him in the hospital, we were given the chance to participate in the “Hospital at Home” program.

Hospital-at-home enables some patients who need acute-level care to receive care in their homes rather than in a hospital. This program reduces costs, improves outcomes, and is much easier on the patient. So, we were at home, but he was on intravenous antibiotics, and nurses came and went with comforting regularity.

Thus, I didn’t have time to write my posts in advance the way I usually do. Wednesday and Friday’s posts were great examples of what happens when I rush to get a post up on schedule. I corrected the problems as soon as they were pointed out, but I’d prefer to not have to do that.

virtually golden medallion of mayhem copyNo one is perfect, but I like to do my best work. I’ll admit that publishing a post discussing a picture but with no image of that art piece is a humorous blooper. We did get a laugh out of it.

But it’s not “best” work.

Greg is now on the mend and slowly regaining the ground that he lost. His strength is gradually returning, and he is suffering fewer moments of confusion.

In the meantime, Life in the Realm of Fantasy is trimming back to two posts a week instead of three.

On Mondays, we will discuss the craft of writing and how it fits into my life. Sometimes, we’ll talk about the books I’m reading, and sometimes we’ll interview friends about their books.

On Fridays, I will share the images I find on Wikimedia Commons and talk about what I like about that painting or photograph.

8ce052b8e7c8182a51dc4999859c1061I try to write my posts on Saturdays and proof them on Sundays, so having only two to deal with will allow me time to proofread them and work on my other creative writing projects.

And so, my friends, I’ll see you next on Friday, when I feature an example of the mad, fantastic art of Hieronymus Bosch.

Credits and Attributions

[1] Wikipedia contributors, “Lemming,” Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Lemming&oldid=1221843458 (accessed May 3, 2024).

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May 3, 2024 · 6:00 am

#FineArtFriday: Bavarian Landscape by Albert Bierstadt

Bierstadt_Albert_Bavarian_LandscapeArtist: Albert Bierstadt  (1830–1902)

Title: Bavarian Landscape

Genre: landscape art

Date: possibly between 1853 and 1857

What I love about this painting:

Albert Bierstadt is one of my favorite artists. He loved the power of nature. His colors are strong, and he employs contrast to good effect. In this painting of cattle in a field, he manages to make even the simplest scene feel epic.

This is one of his earlier works, but the sky is pure Bierstadt—immense, powerful, the vaults of heaven reigning over the world below.

We see a lush, fertile farm with healthy cattle in the foreground. The dark clouds in the distance tell us a summer storm looms, but for us, the sun still shines overhead.

About the artist, via Wikipedia:

Albert Bierstadt (January 7, 1830 – February 18, 1902) was a German American painter best known for his lavish, sweeping landscapes of the American West. He joined several journeys of the Westward Expansion to paint the scenes. He was not the first artist to record the sites, but he was the foremost painter of them for the remainder of the 19th century.

Bierstadt was born in Prussia, but his family moved to the United States when he was one year old. He returned to study painting for several years in Düsseldorf. He became part of the second generation of the Hudson River School in New York, an informal group of like-minded painters who started painting along the Hudson River. Their style was based on carefully detailed paintings with romantic, almost glowing lighting, sometimes called luminism. Bierstadt was an important interpreter of the western landscape, and he is also grouped with the Rocky Mountain School.

In 1851, Bierstadt began to paint in oils. He returned to Germany in 1853 and studied painting for several years in Düsseldorf with members of its informal school of painting. After returning to New Bedford in 1857, he taught drawing and painting briefly before devoting himself full-time to painting.

Bierstadt’s popularity in the U.S. remained strong during his European tour. The publicity generated by his Yosemite Valley paintings in 1868 led a number of explorers to request his presence as part of their westward expeditions. The Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe Railroad also commissioned him to visit and paint the Grand Canyon and surrounding region.

Despite his popular success, Bierstadt was criticized by some contemporaries for the romanticism evident in his choice of subjects and for his use of light, which they found excessive.

Some critics objected to Bierstadt’s paintings of Native Americans based on their belief that including Indigenous Americans “marred” the “impression of solitary grandeur.”

Credits and Attributions:

IMAGE: Wikimedia Commons contributors, “File:Bierstadt Albert Bavarian Landscape.jpg,” Wikimedia Commons, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Bierstadt_Albert_Bavarian_Landscape.jpg&oldid=823443562 (accessed May 2, 2024).

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May 1, 2024 · 6:00 am

Active prose #writing

Verbs are the engines that power our prose. They can push the action outward from their nouns or pull it back inward. Verbs show the action but have shades of mood and tone.

Verbs there is no tryWhen I am writing poetry, I look for words that contrast vividly against each other. I choose action words that begin with hard consonants and emotion words that begin with softer sounds.

If I can do this for poetry, I should be able to do this for narrative prose. Unfortunately, my poetic brain goes on vacation when I am trying to write a first draft.

Writing the first draft is difficult enough, but when that draft is finished, the real work begins. At that point, I must turn a choppy mess of a manuscript into something worth reading. There will be good passages, but they are interspersed with bald statements of action and response.

This stage of the process involves working on several layers:

  • prose
  • plot
  • character arc

So, besides ironing out plot holes, beefing up scene transitions, and fine-tuning character arcs, I must focus on the prose. I must use my words as creatively as possible to show the most with the least.

oxford_dictionaryVerb choices and the use of contrast in descriptors are crucial at this stage.

Power verbs push the action outward from a character. Other verbs pull the action inward. The two forces, push and pull, create a sense of opposition and friction. Dynamism in word choices injects a passage with vitality, vigor, and energy.

When we employ verbs that push the action outward from a character, we make them appear authoritative, competent, energetic, and decisive.

Conversely, verbs that pull the action in toward the character make them appear receptive, attentive, private, and flexible.

Concise writing can be difficult for those of us who love words in all their glory. So, I must use action words to set the mood. To do that, I must use contrasts.

  • dwell on / ignore
  • embrace / reject
  • consent / refuse
  • agony / ecstasy

A part of my life was burned away. I was destroyed, but now I was reborn in ways I’d never foreseen.

My action words are burn, destroy, and birth. The above character’s entire arc is encapsulated in those three words. In the opening pages, his verbs are darker, his actions more inward, and his demeanor sometimes brooding.

ozford american writers thesaurusAt the end of his story, events and interactions have changed him despite his wish for a calm life. His journey through the darkness brings about a renaissance, a flowering of the spirit.

Many power words begin with hard consonants. The following is a short list of nouns and adjectives that start with the letter B. The images they convey when used to describe action project a feeling of power:

  • Backlash
  • Beating
  • Beware
  • Blinded (adjective)
  • Blood
  • Bloodbath
  • Bloodcurdling (adjective)
  • Bloody (adjective)
  • Blunder

Some of the nouns are also verbs, such as beating or blunder.

When things get tricky, and the characters are working their way through a problem, verbs like stumble and blunder offer a sense of chaos and don’t require a lot of modifiers to show the atmosphere.

When you incorporate any of the above “B” words into your prose, you are posting a road sign for the reader, a notice that ahead lies danger.

Quill_pen smallIf I want to create an atmosphere of anxiety, I would use words that push the action outward:

  • Agony (noun)
  • Apocalypse (noun)
  • Armageddon (noun)
  • Assault (verb)
  • Backlash (noun)
  • Pale (modifier)
  • Panic (verb or noun)
  • Target (verb)
  • Teeter (verb)
  • Terrorize (verb)

If I want to show the interior workings of a character without resorting to a dump of italicized whining, I could write their internal observations using words that draw us in:

  • Delirious (modifier)
  • Depraved (modifier)
  • Desire (verb)
  • Dirty (modifier)
  • Divine (modifier)
  • Ecstatic (modifier)

So why are verbs so crucial in shaping the tone and atmosphere of a narrative?

Think about this sentence: Selwyn walked away.

We have three words indicating someone has departed, but they don’t show his mood.

Selwyn is a person (noun). He performs an action (verb).

steampunk had holding pen smallThat action affects both Selwyn and his objective: leaving. Away is an adverb (modifier) denoting distance from a particular person, place, or thing. It modifies the verb, giving Selwyn a direction in which to go.

We can write it several different ways still using only three words, and each indicates that Selwyn has left the scene. Each time we substitute a synonym for the word walked, we change the atmosphere of that scene.

  • Selwyn sauntered away. (He departed in a carefree, leisurely manner.)
  • Selwyn strode away. (He walked decisively in a particular direction.)
  • Selwyn stomped away. (Selwyn left the scene in a bad mood.)
  • Selwyn ambled away. (He walked slowly.)
  • Selwyn slogged away. (He departed but had to work at it.)
  • Selwyn slipped away. (Selwyn departed in a stealthy manner.)

Many verbs cannot impact a character or object directly. These are called intransitive verbs. They are as crucial as transitive verbs because they show a mood or condition, a state of being, or a reflex (automatic response).

Consider the word “mope.” Mope is an intransitive verb that means discouraged and apathetic. It’s an action word that goes nowhere.

  • Selwyn moped. (He was dejected and apathetic.) (Boring.)

We can have our character in a bad mood but with variations:

  • Selwyn pouted. (He was whiney, and we don’t want to read anything more about him.)
  • Selwyn languished. (He did nothing and stagnated, and we still don’t care.)
  • Selwyn sulked. (He was angry and self-pitying, and we will close the book on him.)
  • Selwyn fretted. (He was in a neurotic mood, and we tell our friends the book sucks.)

Some intransitive verbs in the family of “mope” are more robust and carry greater force:

  • Brood (a dark, obsessive mood.)
  • (Obsessively thinking about it, suffering.)

We can perk Selwyn up when we add a strong intransitive verb to a powerful transitive verb. Then, we have action and mood:

  • Selwyn strode away, brooding. (He left the scene, and someone will suffer.)

So, verbs and nouns must have modifiers and connectors to show a scene in the most visual and evocative way possible.

oxford_synonym_antonymThe trick is to choose the descriptors and the verb forms that have the most impact. The selection of modifiers and connecting verbs can enhance contrasts or weaken a sentence.

Making revisions is a lot of work. But taking the time to examine the layers of plot, prose, and character arc is required to take your manuscript from first draft to finished novel.

I suggest keeping a thesaurus on hand. I also have a dictionary of synonyms and antonyms because I want my words to say what I envision. Having a list of word forms and their synonyms enables me to express my ideas with fewer modifiers.

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April 29, 2024 · 6:00 am

Modifiers, descriptors, and crutch words #writing

Note to self: write dynamic prose and avoid crutch words.

MyWritingLife2021BOne thing I notice when listening to an audiobook is crutch words. One of my favorite authors uses the descriptor “wry” in all its forms, just a shade too frequently. As a result, I have scrubbed it from my own manuscript, except for one instance.

Wry is a modifier. It means using or expressing dry, especially mocking, humor: “a wry smile.”

“Sardonic,” a word he also uses a bit too frequently, is a relative of the word “wry” and means grimly mocking or cynical.

Both are good words, but they are easily overused when we are trying to show a character’s mood in a bleak situation.

Grin and smile are also first draft crutch words we use to show a mood. I do a global search and then tear my hair out trying to show my protagonist’s mood without getting hokey.

The way we use modifiers and descriptors (and their frequency) plays a significant role in how our work is received by a reader.

Use Active ProseThe words authors choose add depth and shape their prose in a recognizable way—their voice. They “paint” a scene showing what the point-of-view character sees or experiences.

And yes, in order to do that, they must use modifiers and descriptors, also known as adjectives and adverbs.

Modifiers are like any other medicine: a small dose can cure illnesses. A large dose will kill the patient. The best use of them is to find words that convey the most information with the most force.

What do we mean when we refer to modifiers?

A modifier is any word that modifies (alters, changes, transforms) the meaning and intent of another word. These words change, clarify, qualify, or limit a particular word in a sentence to add emphasis, explanation, or detail.

Some of these words are useful as conjunctions, words to connect thoughts: “otherwise,” “then,” and “besides.”

poetry-in-prose-word-cloud-4209005What are descriptors? Adverbs and adjectives, known as descriptors, are helper nouns or verbs—words that help describe other words.

What is a quantifier? They are nouns (or noun phrases) meant to convey a vague number or an abstract impression, such as very, a great deal of, a good deal of, a lot, many, much. The important word there is abstract. It is a thought or idea describing something without physical or concrete existence.

Modifiers, descriptors, and quantifiers are easily overused, so these words are often reviled by authors armed with a little dangerous knowledge.

One of the cautions those of us new to the craft frequently hear are criticisms about the number of “ly” words we habitually use. The forms we use can weaken our narrative.

First, examine the context. Have you used the word “actually” in a conversation? You may want to keep it, as dialogue must sound natural, and many people use that word when speaking.

490px-2014-10-30_11_09_40_Red_Maple_during_autumn_on_Lower_Ferry_Road_in_Ewing,_New_JerseyHowever, if you have used “actually” to describe an object, take a second look to see if it is necessary.

  • The tree was actually covered in red leaves.

Would the sentence be stronger without it?

  • Red leaves covered the tree.

Some descriptors are easy to spot, especially those ending in “ly.” When I begin revising a first draft, I do a global search for the letters “ly.” A list will pop up in my lefthand margin. My manuscript will become a mass of yellow highlighted words.

This is where I look at each instance because “ly” words are code words the subconscious mind uses in the first draft. They are a kind of mental shorthand that tells us what we need to expand on to fully explore the scene we envisioned.

Or they tell me something needs to be cut.

Context is everything. Please take the time to look at each example of the offending words and change them individually. I’ve said this many times, but I like to nag: You have already spent months writing that novel. Why not take a few days to do the job well?

Sentence structure matters. The placement of an adjective in relation to the noun it describes affects a reader’s perception. Modifiers often work best when showing us what the point-of-view characters see, hear, smell, touch, and taste.

Sunlight glared over the ice, a cold fire that cast no warmth but burned the eyes.

In the above sentence, the essential parts are structured this way: noun – verb (sunlight glared), adjective – noun (cold fire), verb – adjective – noun (cast no warmth), and finally, verb – article – noun (burned the eyes).

So, we try to lead with the action or noun, followed by a strong modifier (one without the “ly” ending). The sentence conveys what is intended. It has modifiers but isn’t weakened by them.

ok to write garbage quote c j cherryhThe scene I detailed above could be shown in many ways. I took a paragraph’s worth of world-building and pared it down to 19 words, three of which are action words.

So, now you know what occupies most of my attention during revisions.

As writers, we all want to be accepted and have others like our work, which means we must meet our reader’s expectations.

Writers must write from the heart, or there is no joy in writing.

That means using modifiers, descriptors, or quantifiers when they are needed. It’s a balancing act. We must be mindful of the form and the context of how a modifier fits into our phrasing.

Below are two images. They are lists of code words I seek out and re-examine when I begin revising a first draft. Some words are quantifiers. They are adverbs of degree, words that describe how much of something, such as “I’m dreadfully unhappy.” Quantifiers (also known as adverbs of degree) have their place but can weaken a sentence. So, they are code words for you to look closely at when you get to the revision stage.  

Adverbs_of_degree

“Adverbs of manner” are qualifiers, words that “qualify the manner of what we are talking about.” They can intensify or decrease the degree of something, such as “I rarely go out.”

Adverbs_of_Manner

It seems like an overwhelming task, but it isn’t. I look at each instance of a modifier and see how it fits into that context. If a word or phrase weakens the narrative, I rewrite the sentence. I either change it to a more straightforward form or remove it. For example, bare is an adjective, as is barely. Both can be used to form a strong image, depending on the words we surround them with.

I have found that participating in a critique group has been crucial to my growth as an author. Most writing groups are made up of people who love reading and want your work to succeed. They won’t micromanage your manuscript because they are aware that too much input can remove the author’s unique voice from a piece.

Credits and Attributions:

IIMAGE: Wikimedia Commons contributors, “File:2014-10-30 11 09 40 Red Maple during autumn on Lower Ferry Road in Ewing, New Jersey.JPG,” Wikimedia Commons, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:2014-10-30_11_09_40_Red_Maple_during_autumn_on_Lower_Ferry_Road_in_Ewing,_New_Jersey.JPG&oldid=751843290 (accessed April 28, 2024).

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April 24, 2024 · 6:00 am

My #Writing Life – Forest Fires, Prose, and W.B. Yeats

Spring has sprung, and the world here in the Pacific Northwest is turning green. We have rain today, and should for the next few days, but so far, April has been unusually dry. Drought this early doesn’t bode well for summer. Snowpack levels are currently at 68% of normal.

MyWritingLife2021We rely on water generated by glaciers on Mount Rainier and the Cascade Mountains in general, so the low snowpack means trouble later down the road.

Dry forests in this part of the world mean dry underbrush—if we remain in drought conditions, we could have a repeat of 2018’s West Coast Wildfires. 2018 Washington wildfires – Wikipedia.

That August, one couldn’t escape the smoke. We thought we would find fresh air by going to the beach, but it was just as bad there. The following is an image I shot on August 23, 2018, in Cannon Beach. That year, smoke from wildfires burning all over the West was so thick one could barely see the water from our beachfront condo.

Sun_in_Smoky_Haze_Cannon_Beach_08212018_©Connie_Jasperson_All_Rights_Reserved

At the time the photo was taken, the sun was still an hour above the horizon, and it should have been full daylight instead of noxious twilight.

The brown haze was so dense that the above image appears grainy and overexposed. But as you can see by the red sun, brownish-gray smoke obscures the view of the ocean, hiding the rocks of Tillamook Head. The temperature had risen to 90 degrees at the surf’s edge, an unheard-of temperature for that area of the Northern Pacific coast. Those of us with asthma suffered, as the sun was obscured for most of the day, with intense humidity not helping.

In so many ways, the scene in Cannon Beach that day was unreal, apocalyptic.

The following image is the same view of Tillamook Head as seen from the same condo on August 13, 2016. That was a year of fabulous sunsets, deep blue skies, and perfect kite-flying winds.

2016-08-12 21.26.16

Sunset at Tillamook Head, Copyright 2016 Connie J. Jasperson

But spring always brings the hope that better days are ahead, that the rain will fall, and that the traditional methods of forest fire management as practiced by our tribes will keep our forests safe. Indigenous Fire Practices Shape our Land – Fire (U.S. National Park Service) (nps.gov)

Drought is something thing I can’t change. It’s a thing to consider for world building, a distraction for when life gets crazy here at Casa del Jasperson. Some medications my husband has been taking are not working as well as we wished, and some have caused severe problems. He’s improving since we stopped the offending meds, so life is good.

Writing happens in short bursts. I have several manuscripts in the works so I work on whichever one interests me. I have basically scrapped one novel that had too many storylines. I’m parting it out into several novellas, which has rekindled my inspiration.

Alas, poetry has infiltrated my senile brain again, my secret love affair. I love the many ways words can be manipulated on a blank page. To me, poetry is something beautiful and visually simple, a thing that looks like it should be uncomplicated. But nothing could be farther from the truth.

Yeats Mural and quoteI grew up in an isolated rural environment, and summers could be lonely. My sister and I would get away from family dynamics by reading. My favorite “We Don’t Have Anything to Read” book was the volume of collected works by William Butler Yeats. That book shaped my view of poetry and literature in general.

Yeats was an unconventional person. His penchant for finding romance in most things meant his personal life and politics were sometimes messy. And yes, his love affairs were famous, especially his enduring but unrequited love for the Irish revolutionary/actress Maud Gonne.

Some might call that an obsession.

Yeats was probably not an appropriate literary hero for a ten-year-old girl in 1963, but he was just that to me.

As I grew into young adulthood, I admired how he struggled against the conventional morality of his day, as did all free-thinking artists and writers. It seemed as if his troubles and those of his contemporaries powered their writing.

Yeats’s poetry has rhythm and rhyme, and some consider it too old-fashioned. But while modern poetry doesn’t always rhyme, it must have tempo and rhythm.

Some might ask, “If it doesn’t rhyme, what makes poetry ‘poetic?'” It is prose with syllabic tempo and visual words. It conveys images, both auditory and visual.

manfred-lord byronSometimes, poetry is long, even epic in length. The epic poem, Manfred, by George Gordon, Lord Byron clocks in at around 250 pages and contains supernatural elements, as ghost stories were popular in England at the time. It is a Romantic-era closet drama, a play that is intended to be read aloud by one narrator rather than performed.

Poetry is a primal form of communication in the human species. It’s a literary invention that emerged as soon as we had words. Before we had written languages, poetry preserved our thoughts and feelings. It conveys them in an abstract way, passed down verbatim from generation to generation.

Our species remembers the words and the stories our ancestors told. Nowadays, we consider those sagas of the gods and heroes as allegories to explain historical natural occurrences.

We who write fantasy draw upon and recreate those stories in our image.

poetry-in-prose-word-cloud-4209005Poets select words for the impact they deliver. An entire story must be conveyed using the least number of words possible. Choices are made for symbolism, power, and syllabic cadence, even if there is no rhyme involved.

I try to do the same when I get to the revision process, eliminating weak passages and strengthening others. Sometimes, I have better results than others, but I keep trying.

So, now you know where I’m at in my writing life, the worries and little things that either hinder or spur creativity. I hope your writing is going as well as mine is.

Credits and Attributions:

Images © 2018-2024 Connie J. Jasperson, All Rights Reserved

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