Just In Time Writing

I’ve worked many different jobs, some good, some bad. Most a little of both. One of the more interesting professions was working in a warehouse. I was one of the few women back then driving large pieces of equipment. The environment was challenging on a number of fronts, but I learned a lot about myself, men, and how I would never be cut out to be a fork lift driver.

Anyway, something that was implemented while I was there was the Warehouse Management System, or WMS. We called it We’re Missing Something because the system didn’t work so well at first; it was intended to supply materials at the very last minute to save space and spoilage. No longer would there be moldering rubber stoppers on the top shelf. Supposedly. In practice often a shortage would cause an order not being filled on time.

But the system got better. It did save storage and money. And interestingly enough, it also caused us to get a lot faster, because we were all competing to get those orders filled.

I thought about that with regard to my writing. I used to pick anthologies that had far away submission dates. I’d write my story, polish, send, and wait. And wait and wait and wait, just like I do with my novels.

Recently I’ve decided that was not using these venues to their best advantage. Writers rarely get dates by which they will know if their work was accepted, so why not write for ones dated sooner rather than later?

So I did. And like the WMS system, I’ve become a whole lot faster. I’ve been amazed how quickly I can write a short story when a two week deadline is looming. And I don’t have to wait long for a reply, which is nice.

I really wasn’t a very good fork truck driver. But hopefully this new approach will sharpen my writing skills and I will have even more stories published.

It Happens

I am not in the Indiana Horror Anthology, sigh. I'm actually in the Indiana Science Fiction Anthology (new cover above) coming out soon.

It was a misunderstanding and I'm cool with it, although I do apologize to those who have already purchased the horror anthology thinking I was in it.

The reviews have been great...even if I'm not in there. :-)

Indiana

The Indiana Horror Anthology is now available on Amazon!! I’m so excited to be included. (My story is Networks.) It’s always wonderful to be published, even better in an INDIANA book.

I love my home…can you tell? I didn’t always. India-No-Place. Hicksville. I thought the coasts were more glam. Hipper. Close to the ocean which I adore. I only appreciated Indiana’s quiet beauty and quirkiness when I grew older.

And what is more quintessential Indiana than the State Fair? My husband and I go every year. He loves the farm animals. I love watching the people. We both love the food. The fair is a microcosm of Indiana: farm folk and city slickers co-mingle eating fried cheese and elephant ears, listening to rockabilly overlaid with raucous 80’s rock.

I’ve heard east coast people describe Indiana dwellers as bland. West Coasters have been known to call us dull. Maybe we are. But we are also something else.

Gary and I were tip-toeing through mounds of poo behind the cow pavilion when we heard a wait, wait! We turned. There was a freckled face girl, her pigtails swinging, holding up a twenty dollar bill. You dropped this, she said to Gary.

A little later on we passed the make shift memorial to the five people killed when a stage collapsed last Saturday. We sat across from the mound of flowers, cards, and stuffed animals, watching people add their own gifts. Some held hands. Others bowed their heads. Everyone who passed stopped talking, if only for a moment.

That’s my Indiana.

Even Shorter

A few months ago I had a conversation with a young man who is starting a novel. What kind, I asked? He frowned. It’s not a kind, he said, it’s literary.

Ah yes, literary. Anyone who writes knows what that means. I don’t write genre. I write literary. High class. Smart. The Good Stuff.

Sigh. I could argue the merits of genre writing but why? You either like it or you don’t. Humans, a good number anyway, like to rate things. Try to “outsmart” one another. And if you have read any of my posts you will know one thing I despise is intellectual snobbery.

And alas, some genre writers are not exempt from this sad trend. I read an article in which a genre writer pooh-poohed short stories. Only those who can’t complete a novel write those. Really? I wonder what Asimov would have said about that. Wait. I think I know. He was somewhat of a curmudgeon.

But I digress. So I know what some writers say about genre. About shorts. What do you think they would say about writing greeting card verse???

Yes, I’ve gotten into that too. I’ve always been pretty good at light poetry…rhyming, structured, and free flow. In fact, I love to add them into stories. Spells are fun. And greeting card companies pay, per word, better than any other writing outlet. Some as much as 300 bucks a verse. They also allow artwork submission and I’m going to try that as well.

Of course, the big companies either have staff or…surprise…you have to have an agent. But small to middle sized ones welcome submissions. So…while waiting to hear back on my novels and writing short stories I’ve also completed my first round of verse and sent it in.

As far as I’m concerned, writing is writing.

And a check is a check. :-)

Shorts

It’s really hot here in Indiana, but I’m not talking about clothing.

I’m in that waiting mode. Making the transition from sending my novels to small publishers to medium and large ones means waiting a long time…for them to say... no. Hopefully at some point one will say yes, but in the meantime I wait, send it out again, and wait some more. It’s depressing.

I’m working on a new novel but this one is going slower, in part because it’s a traditional fantasy, but I know the other reason is because at the end I’ll have yet another manuscript to go out there…and wait some more.

When I was working in corporate America I was almost always in school. I was lucky that my employer paid for a good portion of it, even a PhD. Did I need a doctorate for my work? Not really. After all, I was doing the job. I did learn a lot and I do think my schooling improved my skills, but I didn’t need it.

For work, that is. I did need it for me. Corporate America is many things both good and bad, but one thing it is generally not is affirming. Was I doing a good job? Sometimes clients told me so. My bosses hardly ever. I always got a raise. I was never in danger of job loss. But did that mean I was good? I never really knew. But school…ahhh. Now that was another story. Every semester came a solid confirmation of Kelly Goodness.

And that’s what short stories do for me now. They are quick. They are fun to write. Easier to find markets. You don’t have to make a commitment to a character or setting. And I get that nice satisfying we want this more often.

Over the last couple of weeks I’ve knocked off a couple and already had one accepted to an Indiana Horror Anthology. (How cool is that…an anthology for Indiana writers and/or stories set in Indiana. About time. We’re a spooky state. :-) )

Unless you are famous, you’re never going to make a bunch of money on shorts. But that’s OK. I didn’t get any cash for good grades either.

Being published…it just never gets old.

White Space

I just finished a post on Gary and my dance blog entitled white space; specifically, the space between notes in music or the space between dance steps, and how both are not empty, but meaningful and profound.

Then, as often happens, I contemplated about how white space applies to other art forms. Since I draw, I’m acutely aware that sometimes too much going on can ruin a painting; there has to be “white spaces” in order for what’s important to stand out and to give the viewer resting places.

My thoughts drifted to writing. Stories need “white spaces” too. All conversation or action scenes can be tiring. Conversly, too much description is sometimes boring.

If action and conversation are the notes, then perhaps settings and explanations are the peaceful white spaces in between. The trick is knowing where to put them in, and sometimes, when to take them out.

And understanding that one person’s white space will always be another’s yawn. :-)

Whazzup?

I really like wazzup, as in hey dude, wazzup? I also like meh. It totally captures that lackadaisical feeling, as in how are you doing….meh. For me, slang is the embodiment of language’s fluidity. And English is one of the most fluid languages ever. And weird and odd.

As a comic once said, why do we park on a driveway and drive on a parkway? Why put a comma before “too” at the end of a sentence but not after “also?” (Although the “too” rule has changed in some people's mind…the last editor I had said I could do either way but I must choose. Another example of fluidity.)

I’m reading a book that is fascinating but probably one of the most pompous I’ve ever encountered, so I will not be naming it. The author traces the history of words and how they’ve changed over the years. That’s the fascinating part. The not so great part is his belief, stated strongly and often, is that some words are better than others, and when in doubt use a fancy one.

I don’t agree. When I hear someone using a “fancy” word it’s almost as if that person is looking around to see if I “got” that it was fancy. Inside I’m thinking yeah, I heard it, yeah you’re smart, and do you want me to ask what that word means so you can explain it to me?

This author thinks writers should do the fancy. I disagree even MORE with that. In my opinion, a writer’s job is to take the reader somewhere else. If a reader is forever puzzling over a word that takes him or her out of the story that’s not good. As a reader myself, an interesting word now and then is fun. A skillful writer can use the word in context so the reader can figure it out. But more than a few and my attention wanders.

I try not to do this and I never mean to, but I’ve been admonished for using a word someone might not know and I’m glad my editors pointed it out. After all, I’m writing for my readers as much as for me. And I don’t want them to say huh? or worse, feel stupid because they don’t know the word.

I don’t celebrate illiteracy, but I also don’t laud the reverse. If I’m choosing, I’d much rather spend time with an interesting person with a 6th grade education that a PhD with a case of intellectual snobbery.

But in the end, I guess that’s what makes people so fascinating. After all, that author I’m reading would make a great character. I might have to kill him off in the first chapter, though. :-)