Tag: Writing

Personhood Added Life to My Stories

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By Bob McCrillis

This is boring! Who in the heck told you that you could write? This isn’t writing, it’s just typing!

My internal editor pointed out the many deficiencies of my first twenty-five pages. He delights in bashing my fragile ego, doesn’t ever take a vacation or get laryngitis.

I had labored mightily and created a corpse.

My sentences were flat and lifeless. Paddy shook off his guilt over Phou.ng’s death and took point position, leading the rest of the squad into the bush. Oh, yeah? Guess it didn’t bother him too much, then, did it? Okay, it isn’t bad but it isn’t alive. Telling a story is not stringing together a series of events. I needed to get my reader involved but how? Continue reading “Personhood Added Life to My Stories” →

Self-Publishing: Is It Right For Me?

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By Bob McCrillis

You’ve finished your novel. People you trust have read the draft and enjoyed it. Now what? I’m assuming you would like to have readers other than friends and relatives.

Setting aside the options of running down to the local copy shop, you have two possible choices. Traditional publishing or self-publishing – now called indie publishing.

Traditional publishing offers the resources to deliver a best-seller to the market. Its principal drawback — and it’s a big one — is the fine screen your book will have to get through. You have to make two tough sales, the first to an agent, then to the publisher. A secondary obstacle is the slow pace of the industry. You should plan in years. Continue reading “Self-Publishing: Is It Right For Me?” →

Writers Guild Updates

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By Linda Donaldson

A reminder – our June meeting on the 17th falls on Father’s Day. We start at 1 pm and meet till 3 pm. Please bring 10 copies of any work you’d like to share up to 3 pages long, and remember to put your name and email on your work for further feedback.

Anne Kaler began our May Writers Guild meeting by announcing our Literary Journal plans for this year. The former Fall 2017 issue, with the theme of “Justice and Mercy,” will be posted mid-June as the Summer 2018 issue. The Editors have chosen the theme “Transformation“ for the Winter 2018 issue with the deadline of October 31, 2018. Submission guidelines will be posted soon on the blog. Continue reading “Writers Guild Updates” →

Left Brain, Right Brain

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By Bob McCrillis

If you don’t know where you’re going, any road will do. How many times have we heard that old saw?

There is an ocean of advice out there for the would-be author. We have our choice of webinars, seminars, boot camps, and retreats. Each one promising that, with their system, we will release our inner book. Trust me, I’ve drunk deeply from this well. No matter what course or system, step one is always, always prepare an outline.

Bob cropped tightI diligently took notes on such arcana as story arcs, critical turning points, characterization, and the primacy of points of view. According to the books, my next step — the first that called for actual writing — was to prepare my outline. The more detailed my outline, the better. The outline should include major and minor turning points, and the critical conflicts. My next task was to complete detailed worksheets describing my characters. With that done, writing your novel is mere word play.

To this I say, Balderdash! And again, Balderdash! Continue reading “Left Brain, Right Brain” →

What Genre Do You Work In?

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By Bob McCrillis

I admit, I thought the question was a little silly the first time someone asked. Genre, unless you were an English Literature professor, was a euphemism for formula and no one wants their work to be viewed as something written to a formula.

Bob cropped tightIt didn’t take long to discover that the question of genre is critically important to the people who sell books. Readers tend toward books similar to the ones they’ve already read and enjoyed – hence the popularity of a series. If you’re in the business of selling books, knowledge of the preferences of the market is critically important. Continue reading “What Genre Do You Work In?” →

Writers Guild Meets May 20th

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By Linda Donaldson

The Writer’s Guild meets on Sunday, May 20th at 1 pm. Don’t forget we begin a half hour earlier this year so we can wrap up by 3 pm.

Become a follower of this blog to get immediate notification of blog posts with links. We feature helpful articles to start you on your writing projects, and to polish your poetry and prose. Look for an informative and entertaining blog on writing from Bob McCrillis tomorrow.

Want to bring a story, essay, or poem to share? Supply 10 to 15 copies, and remember to include your email address on your work so others can provide further comments. We only devote about 10-15 minutes to each selection, so please limit excerpts to 3 or 4 pages.

The Great Divide

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By Bob McCrillis

Leaving the cloistered world of writing a novel to take a few baby steps into the arena of publishing has been as sudden and sharp a change as stepping out of a spruce thicket to find myself standing on the head of the Old Man In The Mountain with the whole state of New Hampshire spread out under my feet. For many, that would be awe inspiring. For me, it was terrifying.

Bob cropped tight

Terrifying and, at first exposure, insurmountable. The numbers speak for themselves according to UNESCO in 2013, there were a little over three-hundred thousand new titles published in the United States. If we assume that those that were published were a small percent of the manuscripts submitted, I think it’s fair to say that my novel is competing for attention with ten or fifteen million other works. The experts say there are around one thousand literary agencies in the United States so…well, you can do the arithmetic. Even if all of my assumptions are off by fifty percent, there’s a huge number of manuscripts fighting for attention. Continue reading “The Great Divide” →

Help From an Unexpected Place

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By Bob McCrillis

Sometimes, agents are as nutty as writers, or so it seemed.

On his submissions requirements was ‘if you haven’t read and absorbed all of the Query Shark archives, you’re not ready to query’. Query Shark? What the heck was that? And why would I need to review its archives?

Bob cropped tightBeing a compulsive rule-follower, I dutifully Googled Query Shark and found the blog. Okay, a blog about queries might have some good information before the pitch for an online tutorial course for the low, low price of only …

I clicked on and discovered a treasure trove that I would have hoarded for myself, if I could – why help the competition? My good angel prevailed. Continue reading “Help From an Unexpected Place” →

One Writer’s Secret Weapon

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By Bob McCrillis

I’m a terrible editor.

It’s an affliction that has cost me at least one potential agent. At a book signing for one of his clients, I started chatting with him about doing yet another complete rewrite of my novel. My elevator speech interested him and he encouraged me to bring a query package to a conference at one of the local colleges scheduled for a few months in the future.

Man, I knew I had this one locked. I had a great story, an inside track for an agent, and a couple of months to finish the rewrite. Imagine my humiliation when, after proudly handing him my query, he started through it then took out his pen and began circling things. Not editorial issues or voice possibilities, but obviously missing or duplicated words, “he” where I meant “the”, and even inconsistent spelling of a name between the first paragraph and the fourth on the same page! Continue reading “One Writer’s Secret Weapon” →

2018 Writers Guild Meetings Begin on Sunday, March 18th

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Welcome all writers and aspiring writers!

The Pearl S. Buck Writers Guild begins its 2018 season with the first of ten consecutive monthly meetings on the third Sunday of each month from March through October.

This Sunday afternoon, March 18th, we meet from 1:30pm through 3:30pm at the author’s famous historic home: Green Hills Farm, 520 Dublin Road, Perkasie, PA 18944.

We encourage everyone to bring a short poem or story, or excerpt from a longer piece, not to exceed 3 to 4 pages. Provide at least 15 copies for handing out and be sure to include your name and email address on your selection.

Comments are always constructive, with positive discussion and advice freely given. Attend and meet other like-minded individuals and perhaps find a new writing partner or two! See you on Sunday and please, bring something to share!

We meet in the Cultural Center (big red barn building upstairs) on the grounds of Green Hills farm. Registration is $50 for all ten meetings, or $10 per meeting.

For those whose genre is fantasy or science fiction, see me at the meeting. I have a collection of several “how-to” books that I will give away to anyone interested.

Never been before, and not sure about committing to a monthly meeting? Attendance at your first meeting is free – so try us out!

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