Authenticity, or writing with authority, is what makes a reader believe the writer’s words.

There are many good examples of stories that effectively combine fear, dread, and authenticity. What follows is a masterful one–perhaps because it is non-fiction, though it could work just as well as a fictional piece. I am glad it is not; it is good to know that there have been people in the world with this kind of necessary courage.

Every Sunday, I receive a short story by email through a project of the Library of America called Story of the Week. Sign up is available through their website.

Yesterday’s story was A Negro Tourist in Dixie written by Bettye Rice Hughes. It appeared in a magazine called The Reporter in April, 1962. This story is an account of Miss Hughes’ experiences when she toured the South as a woman traveling alone. Her goal was to record the reception she received in public restaurants and bus stations, but also to compare that reception to the hostile and violent encounters experienced by the Freedom Riders.

This is not a mystery or thriller story. It was real. I am humbled not only by Miss Hughes’ courage, which is great, but also by the beauty of her simple, elegant prose.

Here is her story, in her own words full of fear, dread, authenticity–and courage.

A Negro Tourist in Dixie  by Bettye Rice Hughes, January 16, 2012, Story of the Week.

(Amherst, VA) – Ramona DeFelice Long of Newark, DE, has been awarded a Creative Fellowship to the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts (VCCA). The fellowship is made possible by a grant from Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation as part of its ongoing efforts on behalf of working artists.

The Virginia Center for the Creative Arts is located in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains in rural Virginia. Ramona DeFelice Long will be in residence with approximately 25 other artists focusing on their own creative projects at this working retreat for visual artists, writers and composers.

A typical residency ranges from two weeks to two months. An artist is provided with a comfortable private bedroom, a private studio and three prepared meals a day. Beyond the breakfast hour and the dinner hour, there are no schedules or obligations. This distraction-free atmosphere, as well as the energy that results from having 25 artists, writers and composers gathered in one place, enables artists to be highly productive.

Serving more than 350 artists a year (more than 4,000 since its inception), the VCCA is one of the nation’s largest year-round artists’ communities. VCCA Fellows have received worldwide attention through publications, exhibitions, compositions, performances, and major awards and accolades, including MacArthur grants, Pulitzer Prizes, Guggenheim fellowships, National Endowment for the Arts awards, Rome Prizes, Pollock-Krasner grants, National Book Awards, Broadway and O!-Broadway productions, and Academy Award nominations.

A nonprofit organization founded in 1971, the VCCA is supported in large part by grants and private donations.

The Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation was established in 1979 to promote and support multi-state arts programming. The Foundation serves the states and territories of Delaware, the District of Columbia, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, the US Virgin Islands, Virginia, and West Virginia. Additionally, the Foundation engages in national and international work focused on performing arts touring, jazz, and independent filmmakers.

1.  Attend a live reading! Hearing an author read their prose or poetry aloud is a special treat—and it helps you, a writer, hear emphasis on words or dialogue that’s not possible on a printed page. Many writers like to begin with an anecdote about the story, and that’s an added bonus. In my neck of the woods, we have a 30 year tradition called 2^nd Saturday Poets, but we also have library readings, poetry slams, book talks at bookstores, visiting author series at the university. Attending shows your support for the local arts scene. We all want to support the arts, right?

2.  Read your work out loud. This is a follow-up to the above. Reading aloud helps you hear the rhythm of the writing. If you construct short sentence after short sentence, a live read will help you hear if your prose imitates Hemingway’s or if it sounds choppy and monotonous. Reading aloud also helps catch awkward lines and clunky dialogue.

3.  Try out an online class.  There’s a plethora of learning happening in cyberspace, so you never need to leave your house or get out of your jammies to polish your skills in characterization, active scenes, or figuring out what the heck is subtext. Professional organizations (RWA, Sisters in Crime, Pennwriters), writing services and private editors (ahem!) offer courses that run the range from one day to months. Give one a whirl.

4.  Free Write. A free write is an informal gathering of writers who meet to practice their writing, often through guided activities and prompts.  In 2011, I helped to facilitate a monthly free write at the county library. We met for three hours and combined prompts, sharing and quiet writing time. It was great fun to write on the spot, and to see how others responded to the same prompts and guides.

5.  Join a supportive group—a face to face group, an online forum, a Facebook writers group. This is to combat the whole “writing is lonely” thing, but also to give you a peek into how other writers operate. Talking shop or talking out problems can rev your creative engines, or make the struggle seem less isolating. And if there is good news, it’s always nice to have a cheering squad.

6.  Deconstruct movies and TV shows. Learn the meaning of a “cold opening” or a “meet cute.” Watch the clock and see how a TV drama breaks off at commercial (as you would with a chapter ending) or how a 2-hour movie will have a significant plot development every twenty minutes.  Imagine this TV show or movie as a novel and how it would be narrated, plotted, and told.

7.  Choose a favorite author. Think about why you like what this writer does—what in your chosen author’s body of work speaks to you as a reader. Jot down a few memorable scenes or favorite  plot developments.  Analyze—what’s so special about this writer’s work? What pulled you in? What did you admire? What was your emotional reaction?

8.  Challenge yourself and try to write something new: flash, poetry, a memoir piece, a story told in second person. Do this every few months.

9.  Think of a book you hated from school. (Mine would be Wuthering Heights. Blech. What do people see in Heathcliff? I don’t get it.) Read it now, with an open mind.  What did you dislike about it when you were younger? Do you still dislike this now?

10.  Get into the habit of running the Spelling & Grammar function when you shut down your work-in-progress for the day. Notice what pops up—typos? Sentence structure problems? Fragments? Improper word choice? Pay attention to the habitual problems in your work. Sometimes all it takes to repair a bad habit is to recognize that habit exists. Spell & Gram is a free, easy, and readily available resource to help you find those habits. Make using it your new habit.

11.  Read every day.

12.  Write every day.

 Best of luck in your writing endeavors in 2012!

Ramona

The way to write for publication is to commit to it. That means nothing–and no one–stands in the way of your writing goals.

For 2012, consider taking this pledge:

I ____________ (<-your name) do solemnly swear to devote _________ amount of time each day to Sacred Writing Time. That means no one and nothing disturbs this time, including myself.

I will work at ___________________ (<-location). When you, the undersigned, see me at this location, you will respect my Sacred Writing Time Pledge and not disturb me unless there is blood flowing from multiple places on someone’s body.

Signatures: __________________(<-yours) _________________________(<-your family’s)

The

If you have spent any time blogging, you’ve heard the news that blogging is dead. One of the greats,  The Lipstick Chronicles, will indeed shut its doors on January 1. My friends at The Working Stiffs, where I guest blog once a month, are off on their annual  Christmas through New Year’s hiatus.

But other blogs are plugging along, planning posts for the year ahead and frantically seeking out guest bloggers. What do you do if you’re invited to write a guest post but you never have before? Where do you begin?

While all is quiet in my little corner of the blogging world, I offer you nine tried-and-true ways to open a blog post:

1- The Anecdote – Begin by relating a personal experience–yours or someone else’s. Use real names to make it real and personal. After the short scenario, segue into the broader topic. In this case, the topic is disenfranchised grief.

When my friend Jill’s ex-husband was killed in a car accident, she cried–for a month. This was the man who’d dumped her, who’d destroyed her credit rating and put a permanent dent in her self-esteem. She hadn’t seen him in years. She’d moved on. So why was she bawling in the shower and dreaming about him at night–this person who had ruined her life?

When your heart is broken by the loss of someone you are supposed to hate–or not supposed to love–it can be as confusing as it is painful. Disenfranchised Grief—grieving for an ex-spouse, extra marital affair partner, a lover kept secret because of sexual orientation, or any relationship that is kept private–prevents the person left behind from openly expressing the pain of loss. That makes recovery harder.

2 – Breaking News – Begin with a news story and move into commentary. This works for mysterious disappearances or cold cases that make good fodder for crime  novels. It can  also address real life concerns that aren’t always obvious or comfortable. In this case, a pedophile in a position of trust:

In a small courtroom in Delaware, a one-day trial decided the fate of a man accused of numerous shocking, heinous crimes. Despite the lengthy list of charges against Dr. Earl Bradley, only two Delaware State Police officers testified for the prosecution. No one testified in Dr. Bradley’s defense. No one spoke up to explain why a popular pediatrician would molest his young patients—or how he managed to get away with it for so many years.

3 – Addressing an Issue – Begin with a social or political issue. Briefly give enough background so the reader understands the issue. This one is good for personal opinion/editorial. Here, the topic is forced charitable giving:

There’s been some interesting PR lately about the group of billionaires who’ve pledged to give away at least half of their personal fortunes before they die. The list of pledges includes names like Gates, Rockefeller, Bloomberg, Vanderbilt. I followed this story because I think it’s an admirable and interesting concept. If I had a personal fortune, I think I’d like to see the bulk of it put to good use before I kick the bucket. But, big fortune or small, should I be forced to be generous? Should anyone?

4 – Opening Questions – Start with a list of questions. The queries should be both specific and accessible, so set them in real life. Below, the question lead to the topic of early onset dementia:

We’re all friends here, but pardon me if I get personal for a while and ask: When’s the last time you slept through the night? Do you walk into a room and forget why you’re there? Did you leave your purse right there on that chair, you are positively sure you did, but now it’s nowhere in sight? Do you seem to misplace your car keys all the time? Do you forget a few things—or maybe more than a few things—every day? Several times a day? Do you wonder if this is natural aging, or does some disturbing voice ask if these are really early signs of dementia?

5 – Drama or Conversation – Open with a pretend scene. It can be humorous or not, but the short scene leads up to a punch line that leads into the topic. This one is, does your promise to drive a drunk friend home anytime, any night, make you a real pal–or an enabler?

Ring, ring, ring!

Me: (knocking around bedside table because I’m dead asleep): Um, hello?

Maria: Hey, girl! Did I wake you up? Never mind, guess where I am?

Me: (struggling to sit up) Um, where?

Maria: On the phone with you! (cackles hysterically)

Me: Very funny. (wide awake now) So, how many have you had?

6 – The Surprise/Shocker – A true confession or a surprising fact as an opening. It works best if what follows is unusual and not a cheap hook. This one is about a personal connection to a killer:

I went to my high school Prom with a murderer. He wasn’t a murderer then, of course. Then, he was the cute guy who sat across from me in Chemistry, the second string tailback on the football team who worked at the Piggly Wiggly on weekends. Ten years later, this guy who posed next to me on Prom Night in his baby blue tuxedo, his head tipped down to touch mine as we smiled at the camera, was put away for life.

7 – The Spoof  - A fake letter or news story. Good for something outrageous or humorous, because bloggers want to have fun, too. I used this one to express my undying support for my pretend boyfriend, Blond Bond:

Dear Daniel Craig: I apologize for contacting you via this impersonal public format. There’s been some communication glitch, as my letters to you are returned unopened, my emails bounce back as undeliverable, my texts don’t land, my flowers don’t arrive, and you don’t respond to telepathic messages. Even the wind blows away my smoke signals…

 8 - Survey – A vote or poll on some issue (real, imagined, or joking) is the start. You are opening the floor for return opinions, so be prepared. In this one, you’d get to tell me what you think about reality television.

Let’s take a vote. If you HAD to choose one of the following, would you prefer to be:

A} Trampled to death by elephants; B} Mauled to death by a bear; C} Eaten to bits by piranhas; D} Forced to watch Jersey Shore 20 hours out of every day for the rest of your life.

The first three made me cringe in horror, but D’s the one that’s really scary–to me. Obviously, there are fans of the nutty crew out of Jersey, but I don’t get it. Do you?

9 – The Quote – Look above. Mark Twain fired off this zinger after his obituary appeared in the newspaper. Using a quote, particularly a zingy one, can set the tone and the topic for what’s to follow.

So, here are nine ways to get started. Maybe next time I’ll come up with ways to end them.

Ramona

I’ve been along for the TLC ride since its inception in 2005. Back then, the bloggers–all  mystery writers–focused the posts on their books and the craft of writing. Then the posts broadened to families and social issues and world affairs.  Not many subjects were skipped over by TLC–or the cadre of daily commentors, the back-bloggers, who happily provided opinions and insights from outside perspectives.

This announcement will change up my morning routine of enjoying the daily post with my opening cup of coffee. A true community evolved among the bloggers and the back-bloggers. I will miss them all.

I had the pleasure of guest blogging at TLC on several occasions. To preserve my own little spot in TLC history, here are some of my contributions to the Lipstick discussion:

The Vending Machine is about language, food, and sensuous art: http://thelipstickchronicles.typepad.com/the_lipstick_chronicles/2005/10/vending_machine.html

The Bad Boyfriend Talk  discusses a mother’s attempt to teach her son how to treat girls right: http://thelipstickchronicles.typepad.com/the_lipstick_chronicles/2006/06/the_bad_boyfrie.html

Who Would You Voodoo?  ponders the lure of black, or white, magic: http://thelipstickchronicles.typepad.com/the_lipstick_chronicles/2007/10/who-would-you-v.html

An Open Letter to Craig, Daniel Craig invites you into the Blond Bond sisterhood: http://thelipstickchronicles.typepad.com/the_lipstick_chronicles/2008/11/an-open-letter-to-daniel-craig.html

Everybody’s Doing It  is my helpful (and yes, self-serving) testimonial in support of independent editors: http://thelipstickchronicles.typepad.com/the_lipstick_chronicles/2009/11/everybodys-doing-it.html

To my friends at the Lipstick Chronicles: It was a pleasure. Every darn minute of it.

xoxo~

Ramona

Sacred writing time. A private work space. Down time with other artists. Sounds great, doesn’t it?

Do you fantasize about doing time at an artists colony?

Today is my monthly guest blog gig at the Working Stiffs. “The Gift of Time…and a Boxed Lunch” is a post about my upcoming residency at the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts.

Patricia L. Goodman and Russell E. Reece

Saturday, December 10, 2011

5-7 p.m.

PATRICIA L. GOODMAN (“Pat”) is a widowed mother and grandmother, a graduate of Wells College with a degree in biology and membership in Phi Beta Kappa. In a past life she had many stories, articles and photographs published in horse trade journals such as The Chronicle of the Horse, Dressage and CT, and The American Trakehner, as well as hunting stories in Safari. Lately her poems have been published in Aries and are slated to be included in the forthcoming anthology The Widow’s Handbook. Pat lives on the banks of Red Clay Creek in Wilmington and much of her poetry is influenced by the natural world she loves.

RUSSELL E. REECE (“Russ”) lives in Bethel, in Sussex County, along beautiful Broad Creek. His stories and essays have appeared in Memoir(and), Delaware Beach Life, Delmarva Quarterly, Sliver of Stone, Raving Dove and other on-line and print journals. He has a story forthcoming in the Jan/Feb issue of Crimespree Magazine. Russ is a board member of the Delaware Literary Connection. You can read more about Russ and his work at his website.

A 30-year tradition of literary readings, 2nd Saturday Poets started in 1981 at O’Friel’s pub in Wilmington, DE. Since then, poets and writers have gathered on the second Saturday of each month to share their work in an open and friendly atmosphere. An open mic always follows the featured reader, so feel free to bring some of your work to read and please limit your reading to five minutes. 2nd Saturday welcomes prose writers as well as poets.

2nd Saturday’s current venue is the Jackson Inn, a family owned tavern since 1941. The readings are from 5 to 7 p.m., on the second Saturday of every month, and the Jackson Inn is located at 101 North DuPont Road, Wilmington, DE, across from the Cab Calloway School for the Performing Arts (formerly Wilmington High School).

There is a $5 cover and free parking. Because the Jackson Inn has a tavern license, you must be 21 or older to attend the readings.

But when it comes to keeping one look forever and ever, my fickle French nature cries mais non! I like to mix it up a little here, hence the new look.

Change is good, and so is adapting to it, but there is value in the tried and true, too.

This past month, I tried something new: teaching an online workshop on Story Planning. I am grateful to my class of eager and talented students from the Mary Roberts Rinehart Chapter of Sisters in Crime out of Pittsburgh for their patience and generosity as we worked together throughout the course. I hope to offer the same class to other writing groups next year. Interested? Contact me for details.

I will also be offering my day-long course on Mastering the Art of Self-Editing next year. My editing calendar includes work on a couple of story anthologies, alongside novels and stories of all kinds. Somewhere in there I hope to facilitate more Free Writes and continue to promote the work and programs of my fellow artists here in Delaware.

And I will continue to write.

Bon chance to my writing friends and peers who are in the midst of change or happy with the status quo. Whatever works…work it!

Ramona

In real life, many things happen in the kitchen. It’s the hub of activity. It’s where our bodies go for sustenance and where families bond while breaking bread. How many days do you not enter your home kitchen?  Probably none.

Writers are advised to create stories that reflect and explore real life.  This is good advice–but it does not mean your characters need to hang around the kitchen, even though in real life, real people do.

Let me put this another way. I read a lot of published books. I also read a lot of unpublished manuscripts. Guess which ones have FEWER scenes in the kitchen.

When you’re planning a story, you select interesting places for the big scenes: the opening, the point of no return, the climactic battle. Those locations are certainly important, and they certainly need to be intriguing–but those scenes don’t fill the bulk of your manuscript. You’ll devote more pages to lesser dramatic scenes and lesser dramatic locations.

Where do you send your characters for these important, but not as drama-filled, scenes?

Please don’t say the kitchen.

The kitchen is the fallback location, the comfort zone for comfort writing. After a while, comfort food gets boring and makes us fat. The same thing applies to writing scene after scene in your character’s kitchen.  One of my favorite sayings about writing is that characters sleep and go to the bathroom, but I don’t want to have to read about it. I’d like to add this to that axiom: I love coffee, but I want to drink it, not read about it.

If you leave the kitchen, where do you go? No place exotic, necessarily. Think about the places we go in everyday life:

Home….Job….Restaurants….School….Gym….Parents’ home…Friends’ homes….Grocery story….Doctor’s office….The mall….Swimming pool…..Back yard….Neighborhood….City park….The beach….Bars….Cinema….Casino….Sporting events….Dance recitals….Police station…Hospital

Next, think about the particular setting of your story: Are you writing about a real town/area? Are there historical or significant sites there? Are you creating a fictional town for your story? If so, what’s it like? Where do inhabitants go?

If you are using a real setting, consider the available historical and significant locales. For instance, if your story is set in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, how long can you go without mentioning the flood or the flood sites? Not long. They are in the residents’ faces every day, and you’d be cheating the reader by omitting them. It would be like writing a Pittsburgh story and never mentioning a bridge!

Second, think about your character’s life and world. Where, specifically, does your protagonist go every day, and why? Are those places dull? Are her days repetitive? What can you do to change them up? What can these places show about your character?

If your character likes to read, she goes to a library—or a bookstore—or a used bookstore—or a friend’s house to borrow a book—or a monthly book group. This may show her economic status and/or her social habits.

If a character has a back problem, he goes to a doctor—or a chiropractor—or an acupuncturist—or a faith healer—or a massage therapist—or ignore it until he has to go to the Emergency Room—or buy muscle relaxants from a high school kid on the street corner. These place choices can show if the character is a traditional thinker or a non-traditionalist.

Where you send your characters says something around them, so use those surroundings or locations to perform double—or triple—duty: Advance the action. Teach something new. Show something about the character.

Let’s try an exercise. Choose a generic setting location, like an apartment building. What spaces are available in this apartment building for a lesser dramatic scene?

Apartment: Hallway. Elevator. Foyer. Neighbor’s apartments. Manager’s office. Laundry room. Garden. Bench in front of apartment. Front door. Mailbox area. Roof. Balcony. Fire escape. Enclosed yard. Play area. Pool. Exercise room.

What about a farmhouse in the country?  House. Front porch. Back porch. Driveway. Barn. Garage. Garden. Fields. Swing area. Flower beds. Tool shed. Deck. Yard. On a ladder fixing the roof. On the lawnmower mowing the lawn.

See? No kitchen.

What about work? Let’s say your character is a drone who works in a cubicle making unwanted telemarketing calls to people all day. Dullest of the dull, right?  

Not if you get them out of the cubicle. Try it. Make a list of all the places your drone can go, just within the office building.

Then take your drone out for lunch, and think of all the places available for a meal. Then end the work day, and think of the various means of transportation to leave an office. Then think of all the places your drone can go to after work, rather than going directly home.

Then, when your drone is exhausted because she’s been to the board room at work, a cute little deli/bodega for lunch, a hop in a taxi, a Zumba class, a hitched ride with a friend because her car’s in the shop–let her arrive home. Where she’ll have to check her mail, cross the foyer, ride the elevator, walk down the hall, pass her neighbors’ apartments, and get to her door—all before she ever reaches the kitchen.

She’ll probably need a cup of coffee, in the kitchen, but she’s earned it. Look at everywhere she’s been today!