Bonding, Emotions, Family, Hugs, Laid back, Life, People, Uncategorized

Hugs

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I seen this video a few years ago and simply loved it. The song is from someone who to me was amazing. Even though we never met, his voice touched me deep inside.

A hug can bring a person up from the pits of despair, loneliness and sorrow. It builds one up and makes your heart smile on the inside. They are free and can say so much more than words do. It is easy and the results for me are amazing.

My son a few years back bought a shirt that had written on it “ Free Hugs” and wore it to school. Needless to say he got a lot of female hugging going on if ya know what I mean. 🙂 Some people are not huggers and that needs to be respected.

There are a variety of hugs.

-The one where two people barely touch as the exchange is done

-The one where the hug is so tight one has to come up for air

-The hug between two people who have not seen each other in years

-The hug between a child and their parent

-The one between a spouse greeting their loved ones after being away on tour, business and the likes.

Each vary in intensity, time and emotion. The faces may change but the emotion stays the same. An action that we as humans use to express ourselves without uttering a single word.

I love hugs.

For Israel, R.I.P

Definitions, Speaking, Story, Voice, Writing Style

Your Voice

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As writers do you know what your voice is?

According to Margaret Maron, creator of Judge Deborah Knott:

Voice is the most important ingredient in a successful book. The plot may be clever, but if the voice doesn’t engage us, how can we care?

According to John Morgan Wilson who writes the Benjamin Justice mystery series:

There is difference between voice and style though it is difficult to get at. To me voice is closer to attitude and the emotional quality of the prose, reflecting the personality of the author.

According to Chris Roerden:

The first step in developing your voice is not to add something but to identify the ineffective writing habit and techniques you’ve picked up over the years and get rid of them.

My Character Development instructor said he knew my voice and I did as well. Funny I thought to myself for my last instructor told me the same thing. This is a trend for people out of my writing groups concur with these teachers. How come everyone knows what my voice is but me? I try hard not to think on this and just write. Apparently I am accomplishing the voice subconsciously.

I have read numerous articles on this topic and when it seems the definition makes sense then a new article comes across my desk and destroys it

Jason Pinter , former St. Martin’s Press editor states:

Voice is the conversational quality of your writing, the way you “talk” to your reader. It’s as important in writing as it is in conversing aloud with someone or speaking to a group. If your voice isn’t confident, assured, authoritative, natural, and appropriate for your characters and story, the writing will feel stilted, forced, ragged, weak, awkward. Just as speaking aloud is ineffective if one is halting, hesitant, lacking in confidence, and so on .

This one makes sense to me since for now I can’t verbally express my definition of the voice. One good way is to read your story aloud. It may sound silly but it is a good way to hear one’s errors, pace and flow. Perhaps a writer will discover their voice.

Will I ever be able to describe this important ingredient to others, I do not know. Hopefully though my voice is being written loud and clear in my writings.

Book, Creative Writing, Editing, NaNoEdMo, NaNoWriMo, Writing

NaNoEdMo 2012

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In November 2011 I tried my first NaNoWriMo. I was not properly prepared to do so only deciding two weeks prior to attempt this. What happened was a month long of worry, stress, lack of sleep, physical pain due to my illnesses and my mood being out of whack. When it ended I was not sure if this would be tried again. If so then better preparation would have to be in place. But what I got out of it was a novel over 50k long and one I have added to since then.

In February a friend informed me about NaNoEdMo for March. I thought this would be a wonderful opportunity for me to edit my book from November. I mean after all the only the thing required was to log in 50 hours of editing in the month of March. That broke down to 97 minutes per day.

Easy! I can do that. After all I had survived NaNoEdMo 2011 and won. I totally underestimated my hatred of editing. While it is necessary function for a writer, it is one that is loathed to all depths of the word. But by March 30th I completed the task of this particular frenzy. My novel that is 132 pages, though it is not complete yet, had 101 pages edited. For me that is a big Homer Simpson WOOHOO!

While this is just my first draft and revision the feeling of getting this done is priceless. On Sunday I woke up expecting to edit and realized that the deadline was done and over. I could now concentrate on other aspects of my writing. But the empty space stayed with me the whole day feeling the need to sit in front of my computer and edit. Curses I thought to myself. The fiend won’t let me go so easily.

The Musings of A New Englander