Sunday Sundries--That Which Would Be Thrown Away

Or deleted.

When I was doing some serious editing on my first in a series of novels, I took out big heaving chunks of stuff, scenes that were unnecessary, information dumps and awkward construction that was more easily rewritten than edited. It would have been very easy to hit the delete key. However, I channeled my inner hoarder. I cut and pasted into an archive folder that was saved onto a flash drive.

While those electrons may never again be seen, my paranoia would not allow me to let go. I am similarly fighting my compulsions in other areas of my life. Some things are easier to get rid of than others. I am going through my counted cross-stitch projects, so I can reorganize my craft closet in the office. There are a bunch of projects that haven't seen the light of day in over ten years. Here are a couple:

This is the center section (sleeve) from a pattern called Earth Angel. The designer is Marilyn Leavitt-Imblum and the company that put this pattern out is called Lavender and Lace. This is less than one twelfth of a very intense design.

I looked at it long and hard. I sent many other patterns from this designer to be sold on commission. Would I ever finish this piece? Would I ever even want to work on this again considering the hundreds of other patterns I had more to my taste? Finally, I grabbed the scissors and cut around the little bit of stitching. I was left with a large piece of blue linen and several small pieces.

This was my start on Just Nan's Creativity. I started on the wrong kind of fabric and it made it difficult to get some of the bands to come out correctly. This is what it's supposed to look like:

Again, I cut out the bands, giving me two large pieces on either side. I can re-purpose the bit stitched for a bookmark.
There were a few more, but there were still dozens I kept intact. And I still have more to decide about over the next few days. I'm proud of my progress so far, though.

I've also been going through a bunch of pictures. Those are just as hard to delete. I have to admit, I went through Mom and Dad's boxes and gathered a big zipper bag of what I called mystery pictures. I had no clue who was in them, many of them were out of focus or group shots that were at a distance. It was hard, but I gave the bag to some relatives in my home town. They took the pictures around to see if anyone wanted any of them. Here is one of the better ones I did keep:

That's Dad standing. I'm pretty sure it's his high school class get-together at a restaurant in our home town, but the other folks are long gone. Dad passed at age eighty-six eleven years ago. I'll post the picture on the Facebook page for our hometown and I'm grateful I scanned it in, but I doubt I'd put it in an album or anything.
Here's one of my girl cat I took the other day. She was not interested.

That's my husband laughing at her in the background, though, so I may keep it.
Here's one from later that's much better.

These are only a couple hundred kilobytes on a 16 gigabyte flash drive.

I was running into the same problem on my Kindle. It was freezing, taking forever to open and virtually unusable. I saw there were over 1100 titles on it, almost all freebies I'd downloaded whether or not I'd ever read them. The great thing about Amazon is those books are still on their "cloud." I deleted like a crazy person things I knew I'd never read. If I decide later I would like to, it's super easy and quick to download to the device again. Now, my Kindle works like it is intended.

So, there is much editing we can do in every aspect of our lives. Do we really need four ladles and five spatulas? Do we really need that background scene from a secondary character's point of view or can we tell that information in a throwaway bit of action or dialog with a main character? Will we ever do that project we were saving that paper for or should it go into the recycle bin?

What can you get rid of in your life or in your writing?

Various and Sundry for Sunday and a Happy Surprise!

I have a huge file on one of my flash drives with ideas and photos I've found that would be cool to share, so I thought I'd give you just a taste of my warped mind.

First, some advice from the awesome Toni Morrison:



Then from toothpastefordinner.com, a frightening view of a possible future:

Sorry, I don't remember where I got this one and I didn't label it, but I like it a lot:

Finally, from thingsweforget.blogspot.com, one of many little sticky note pictures they post all around the world:

Finally, please share my excitement with my happy surprise!

Julee J. Adams is getting a Kindle!

Everybody say, W0000T!!!!!!

Even better, I won it by having a good time. Minnette Meador is a author I've been following on Facebook these past few months and she just informed me I was the winner of the Grand Prize of her blog tour to promote her latest book, The Gladiator Prince. I have learned so much by following her on the blog tour about promotion, brand-building, hunky gladiators and Celtic/Roman history. How very cool is that?

Link to Minnette's Facebook page (please stop by and Like her):

www.facebook.com/pages/Minnette-Meador/19208183951

Link to Minnette's author blog, where you can read excerpts from her various books (please stop by and Follow by GFC):
http://minnettemeador.blogspot.com/p/books-by-minnette.html

The link to her books on Amazon (please stop by and buy--she also has an epic science fiction series, if that's more your thing):

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_i_0_10?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=minette+meador&sprefix=minette+me

While I still live for my books from trees, I look forward to having an eReader for traveling and just because I'm a gadget kind of gal. While two of my friends have that other kind of eReader, I already have sixteen books on my desktop Kindle file. Thanks so much, Minnette! May your books soar to the top of all the lists! How do you like being linked in a post with Toni Morrison?

And may you all have a super week!

101 Plots--Used and Abused for your pleasure

I was looking downstairs for some items and saw a thin volume on top of a box of books. Sure enough, it was a book titled 101 PLOTS –USED AND ABUSED, by James N. Young, The Writer, Inc., publishers. I’d gotten it from one of the “bargain book” outlets over twenty years ago, probably for less than $5. Originally written in 1945, the revised edition was reprinted in 1961, which is what I have. It is only 71 pages and while some of the items in it are very outdated, it is frightening how many of these plots I recognized, reinterpreted and combined into an “everything old is new again” movie script or book.

Of course, the first thing I did was check to see if it was still available. First, I checked Amazon, to find it selling for $99.95, WITH the dustcover. It is the 1961 edition I have, in very good shape, but no dustcover.

(http://www.amazon.com/plots-abused-James-Nicholas-Young/dp/B0007E53JC)

Ooohhh! How interesting. So, I checked Alibris, a website for antique and out-of-print books. They were selling the 1946 edition in “good condition” for $85.50 for one of my favorite websites, Better World Books.

(http://www.alibris.com/search/books/qwork/-87116059/used/101%20plots%20used%20and%20abused)

Still, IF I should ever want to get rid of my copy, I’m betting I could get a decent sum. All in all, a pretty good investment.

In the Forward, Young tells about getting a call from a friend, who has a great idea for a story, that just happened to his cousin/friend/uncle/whatever. The author bursts his bubble by interrupting, telling the rest of the story and saying it is Plot No. 46. (A pickpocket/thief returns a favor by helping the protagonist escape.)

Don’t you wish you could do that?

“In this little book you will find briefly outlined a number of old plots (with a few of their many variations) which have become hackneyed through much use….Old though they be, the skilled craftsman can still reclothe their bones so as to produce the illusion of novelty.” Mr. Young worked as an editor, so he compiled his list from what he saw submitted, but also wrote himself.

Rule Number 1 is from Francis Lewis Wellman, author of The Art of Cross-Examination.  “Rule 1 for every writer should be: Write a certain number of hours every working day in the week. Whether you’re in a writing mood or not, write: Let nothing, other than illness, keep you from your typewriter!”

Rule Number 2 is from our author. “And, however impatient you may be, never submit a story to an editor until it is as near perfect as you can make it. Work over your plots again and again, before you start writing. Live with them, take them out to walk with you, sleep with them. Edit your stories line by line, word by word; and, if necessary, rewrite them again and again…and again…and yet again. When you have put the finishing touches on a story, when you have done your ultimate best, hold it for a time—with a little further thought you may be able to improve it.”

Rule Number 3 is on page 15, where our author is trying to write his own story for publication. “Which reminds me: One of the most important things the beginner must learn, if he hopes to succeed, is how to avoid the use of cliches. Many a piece of fiction never finds a market simply because of the author’s choice of trite words. If you are a beginner, go over your stories before you send them out, and delete as many hackneyed words and expressions as you can—and as many adjectives! This, take it from me, is good advice.”

He includes the super short story he gave to his editor, called “A Song in France.” It was his fifth draft. Remember, that was in the pre-photocopier days of the manual typewriter. I remember those and carbon paper, don’t you?

In fact, I have this very typewriter from my mom and dad on my quilt case.

Then, he goes into the plots, with the addendum in the headline “(With twenty-four extra, for good measure).” He numbers them, each one paragraph synopses, sometimes with generic character names.  While most would not sustain a novel, I recognized these old chestnuts, every one.

Number 114 is the: It was only a dream. (Remember that whole season of “Dallas”?) Number 55 is the: He’s dead, but the reader doesn’t find out right away. (Remember “The Sixth Sense”?) Number 72 is: The husband went off to war and was reported as dead, but returns years later, having just been captured. (Remember “Castaway”?)

So, it’s safe to say, anything we write has been written before. How many secret baby, fake marriage/engagement, misunderstanding keeps them separated books have you read the past few years? Quite a few from me, but I know I’ll keep buying them and reading them. It is simply up to us to make it interesting, different and worthy of our readers’ dollars.