by Ken DrentenThis spring, I launched a new website and blog called Dusty Tires (https://dusty-tires.com/). It's the result of more than a year of thought and development, and about four months of more intense work on my laptop. I created it as an alternative to self-publishing a book. Why? The subject material lends itself to a medium that allows for continual changes and updates. Dusty Tires was created to help people locate and visit places that are sometimes not easy to find but are well worth the search. Often, unless you live near some of these places, you may not know much about them. The places include mills, barns, candy shops, hardware stores, general stores, grocery stores, root beer stands, ice cream shops, factory tours, diners, drive-in restaurants, drive-in movie theaters, historic taverns, lighthouses and many other places. Also included are a few places just outside Ohio that are well worth the drive. From 100 plus-year-old hardware stores to classic drive-in movie theatres, there are great opportunities to enjoy fun, wonderful destinations in Ohio. Dusty Tires is a great starting point to plan day trips, road trips and theme trails. Some of these could be considered stops to investigate and enjoy for a length of time, while others may be worth a quick stop to check off your list. It’s up to you. I remember many of these places, and others like it, from my growing up days in the 1960s and ‘70s in east Columbus, Ohio. It was a real treat to eat hamburgers at Emil’s Steer-Inn, to take day trips to Lynd’s Fruit Farm for apple cider and see double features at the East Main Drive-In Theater. Some of these places have disappeared with the passing of previous generations and the economic effects of shopping malls, recessions and online shopping, but many are still thriving. My hope is that the information in Dusty Tires will help more people invest their time and money in these businesses (many of which are family-run) and allow their owners to keep them going and their communities economically healthy well into the future. In other words, travel locally, buy local, and have fun! I continually add places from personal references, websites, Facebook posts, printed marketing materials and online sources directly related to each business or organization involved. Other features of the site include Ohio travel and tourism links, Ohio Scenic Byways links, and a page to allow purchase of my photos posted on the site. Finally, I post a weekly blog article and promote it to Facebook. Here is the latest blog post -- https://dusty-tires.com/2023/05/30/ohios-scenic-byways-will-take-you-back-home/. You are welcome to subscribe -- it's free!
by Doris Caceres-SchumickTranslingual: The Journal of International Voices is Ohio State's University's Intercultural English Language Program's publication featuring the creative and analytical writing and artwork of the international community. This journal includes a variety of writing (academic, creative, informative, and reflective) as well as varied artistic means. Translingual provides an opportunity for OSU's international students, faculty, and staff to share their voice with one another and the university community.
by Mary HickeyWhen is something we have written good enough that we need to mark it “Done” and move on to our next project? It makes sense that the longer we take, the better the end product is likely to be. That’s assuming we are actually working at perfecting what we’re doing, not just procrastinating and doing nothing, of course. If we hurry too much to get our work into print, we can end up like the sheep-reporters of Columbus’s hometown author James Thurber, in Fables for Our Time. In Thurber’s fable, several sheep race to be first to get a story out about life in Wolf-land. The winner writes about a single day-trip there, when it happened there was a festival going on. So that sheep wrote that Wolf-land wasn’t scary, just a fun place where they party all the time. Sheep who believed that ended up as dinner on other days in Wolf-land. Thurber’s sardonic moral for this story was, “Don’t get it right, just get it written.” That’s a good cautionary to keep in mind, but I think most of us tend toward the opposite extreme of excessive perfectionism. If what we have written doesn’t get published, we can be tempted to think it would have been, had we just spent more time on it. Possibly, but not necessarily true. Maybe we unknowingly sent a story about a cat to an editor who hates cats. Or, maybe ours wasn’t accepted because they just accepted a very similar article or story from someone who got theirs out the door faster than we did! At some point we have to cut our work short and say it’s done, or the end of our lives will come upon us with a drawer, attic or even an entire office full of writing that has never seen the light of day. Frequently controversial British columnist, blogger and author Peter Hitchens never seems to have any trouble getting his thoughts from his mind to his computer, and from there to his prolific blog. I think he hints at how he accomplishes this in an article where he criticizes, among other things, England’s obsession with high-speed rail. He notes that they could instead rebuild the infrastructure for adequate slower trains and trams, which would get people where they are going at far less expense. He says: “As in so many other fields of endeavor, if we recognize that we are not the best in the world, we might end up with something decent.” [Spellings changed from British to American standard] If our writing has reached the point where we feel it says what we wanted to say, clearly, effectively and with as skillful use of words and language as we are capable, it’s probably “something decent”. Whether we intend to send it out for publication, or just email it to our friends and family members and hope they read it, we need to take it out of the drawer and kick it out the door!
by Doris Cáceres-Schumick Last year at one of our Zoom writing meetings I gave a presentation on how to self-publish your book on Amazon’s KDP (Kindle Direct Publishing) platform. One of you soared with that information, self-publishing your own books! But what if you wanted your essay about birds published in the Birds & Blooms magazine or your story about child guidance published in The Harvard Common Press? According to each publisher’s submission guidelines in my copy of the 2019 Writer’s Market book, by Robert Lee Brewer, you’d have to submit a query letter, as these are traditional publishers seeking specific subjects while offering some sort of compensation (for ex. a royalty, a free copy of the magazine your story will be published in, marketing, etc.). So then, what is a query letter? A query letter is a one-page professional sales letter written to persuade the publisher to consider or even read your manuscript (written work). It’s a short way of introducing yourself to the publisher. It’s a way to pitch your work and yourself. So, it is critical to take your time crafting your letter because this may be your one and only chance! A well-crafted query letter should contain:
In addition:
Below are two sample query letters from the 2019 Writer’s Market book. Each sample includes detailed comments showing what did not work and what did work. I have to admit, the first sample did get my attention! LOL! So now that you’ve learned the basics of writing a query letter, I hope you feel confident enough to find your desired publisher and write your own letter. And if you need someone to look over it and provide feedback, please feel free to email it to me by clicking here. And if you have the time, please comment on this blog or add in your professional query letter advice below. I’d love to hear it!
by Rickie LongfellowHi everyone. February is Valentine’s month. Have you ever written a love poem to your Valentine? If not, why not start a new tradition this year? If you haven’t ever written a love poem, here are a few suggestions to get started. Read some love poetry. Writer’s Digest provides 10 of them at this link: https://www.writersdigest.com/write-better-poetry/10-best-love-poems-eve. Next, jot down some things you admire and love about your Valentine to include in your poem. Your poem doesn’t have to rhyme, but if you want it to rhyme, that is just fine. (Do you see what I did there?) The Rhyming Dictionary at https://www.rhymezone.com/ is a great place to get help with rhyming. Two fun exercises are writing prompts and, what I call buzz words. You can find these through Google and by joining writer’s groups or making up your own. A writing prompt for a Valentine could be, “You are my Valentine because,” “Ten things I love about you,” “I am happy that we met,” etc. You get the picture. Once you have the first line, your poem should emerge easily. We won’t worry about meters and stanzas. Write what is in your heart. For the second exercise, buzz words, and in this case love words, you will find a long alphabetized list of them at this link. https://grammar.yourdictionary.com/word-lists/list-of-romantic-words.html. Here are a few examples: amazing, adorable, angel; beautiful, beloved, bewitching, and the list continues. So, now write that masterpiece for your Valentine and don’t forget the box of chocolates! If you want to share your poem, please post it in the comments below. We would love to read it! Also, check out last year’s Valentine’s Day blog by Doris for a fun exercise. https://thestarvingwritersofkwc.weebly.com/blog-posts/hey-valentine Roses are red, violets are blue, I wrote a poem, now you write one too. Happy writing!
by Doris Cáceres-SchumickHappy New Year!The beginning of a new year is a great time to begin thinking about setting goals. Here are five suggestions: 1. In this new year I will think positively. View difficult times as opportunities to grow and change. Listen for any negative thoughts you’ve given yourself today. Stop. Pray. Use the spiritual 911 number: code for Psalm 91:1. 2. In this new year I will remember that wellness and self-care make a difference. This is the perfect opportunity to begin and maintain a regular fitness program, massage sessions, yoga, meditation, etc., for emotional and physical balance. 3. In this new year I will try to have a balanced diet. Along with establishing wellness and self-care goals, finding ways to decrease and replace the number of processed foods, fast foods, junk foods, and sugars with healthy servings of vegetables, fruits, and grains will positively transform the body you’ve been bestowed with. 4. In this new year I will move towards making a difference. As a responsible citizen, try to enhance the quality of life not just for yourself, but for your community. Find ways to participate, both in government agencies and/or smaller and private areas, such as city council or township meetings, companies, organizations, etc. 5. In this new year I will use my writing talents. Use your writing talents and experiences to bring greater fulfillment and quality to improve your life, as well as the lives of others in your writing community. Take advantage of writing opportunities. Click the button below to submit today! Reflect upon the past year to help guide you to make good resolutions for the new year! What other resolutions would you recommend to others? Please share them below or any other comments you may have.
by Mary HickeyMany of us subscribe to the Writer’s Digest email list, and so receive notifications now and then about e-courses on character development for our writing. They include conflicts the main character must resolve, including ones within him or herself, what that character wants and what is standing in the way. These concepts matter, but to me the most important thing is creating characters that readers care about. The main character must be sympathetic enough that readers root for him or her to achieve or acquire what they want. But they still must have flaws, so they don’t appear to be a superhero, unbound from mere human existence. Other characters can be likable and sympathetic as long as they don’t upstage or eclipse the main character. There can even be a villain for readers to boo and hiss! That’s a form of caring, too, even if it’s the dark side of it. The author must develop the villain’s character sufficiently for the reader to understand at least in part why they’re so opposed to the main character and what he or she wants. Otherwise, the villain is only a cardboard cutout, a cackling demonic type like Wile E. Coyote. A better cartoon villain is Yogi Bear’s nemesis Mr. Ranger, who it’s clear is mainly trying to do his job. If Yogi would catch fish and eat berries and bark like normal bears, Mr. Ranger would leave him alone, but Yogi really, truly wants those picnic baskets full of yummy people-food instead! A few possible spoilers here if you haven’t yet read For Love of Emmaline, so you might want to read no further if you’re planning to read it but haven’t yet: Darlene Schultz’s three-book Amish series For the Love of Emmaline provides a good example of characters we care about. Emmaline herself wants to follow her heart and love Michael, but her family disapproves, and so does Michael’s mother. Michael himself has to resolve the difference between his former life and the one he now wants to embrace instead. Emmaline’s own family have good and loving reasons for their caution and concern, but Michael’s mom evokes our boos and hisses as she tries to sabotage their relationship. Emmaline’s suitor Robert isn’t the hot prospect her family believes him to be, and as he shows his true colors, the characters who truly care for Emmaline all come around. In conclusion, I’ll say first, get to know your characters. Then, help your readers get to know them and care about them. That will make them root for the good folks to have a happy ending, as they do in the Emmaline series, and be happy for them when they do.
by Rickie Kay LongfellowYou are so excited about your remarkable story that your fingers are flying across the keyboard with the speed of Wile E. Coyote chasing the Road Runner. Are your characters also remarkable, or are they a cure for insomnia? It is easy to come up with an interesting background, but it may not be as easy to create distinguishing players. Let’s use an imaginary character to demonstrate. We’ll name him John. Our John is a card-carrying, colossal bore. He asked Alice, a coworker, to dinner one night at a popular restaurant, but while listening to John’s monotone about his allergies, Alice fell asleep between the garden salad and the appetizers. Let’s perk up John so our readers won’t fall asleep. We will begin by giving our John some unique characteristics and flaws. John could love dogs (carries treats in his pocket), love people (hugs everyone), and have extremely good manners (wears a hat and tips it to say hello). Or he could have bad manners (doesn’t say hello – just starts talking), be abrupt and always in a hurry (interrupts people), and wear sloppy clothes (mud on shoes, shirts wrinkled). Or maybe John displays none of those things but has different traits and habits altogether. The part John plays in your story will also influence his characteristics. If John is your antagonist he may carry a gun, and display aggressive posture and dialog to reveal his evil intentions. If John is your protagonist, he may show his leadership and intellect through dialog and positive actions. You get the idea. Now, let’s put John into a story to see if he is memorable. Detective John Brown rushed onto the crime scene splashing a Styrofoam cup of coffee in one hand while gripping a half-eaten hotdog in the other. His wrinkled white shirt was partly tucked into faded khaki pants. With a touch of mustard in the corner of his mouth, he swallowed hard and blurted, “So where is the stiff, Brody?” Officer Brody cringed at his commander’s insensitive reference to the deceased. “Over here, sir,” he replied, his crisp and clean uniform a drastic contrast to his superior’s shabby office attire. What are your impressions of Detective Brown? Does he sound professional, or does he sound somewhat hardened from his job – maybe sardonic? John may be a little uncouth but I’ll bet your readers will notice him each time he pops up on the page. Just remember when you first introduce your character, show your readers a few of his/her characteristics (maybe he has a special knock; maybe her stilettos create recognizable footsteps) and weave in other traits soon after, but at least one trait could be used occasionally throughout the story for your reader to quickly identify. Share your tips with us for making your characters stand out, and let us know if this article helped you. Happy writing!
by Brandi BannerGentle, firm therapeutic, connecting A sense that can't be lived without This sense has connected me with people that need it for healing People that I may have not met any other way And I've found along the way that it affects not only the body but the mind and spirit Not only for the people I serve but myself included. Guest blogger Brandi Banner is the owner of Brandi Blakke Massage at Salon Lofts in Reynoldsburg, Ohio. She is an experienced licensed massage therapist with healing hands. Click "View My Profile" (above) to learn more about her therapeutic massage services and how she can help you relieve pain and tension from stress or chronic conditions. A perfect gift for yourself or others, especially with the holidays approaching!
by Rickie Kay LongfellowAt a recent Kirkersville Writers Club meeting someone asked, “Where do you find names for your characters?” Another writer replied, “Historic lists.” This is a great suggestion and also keeps first names true to the period. Historic tax lists, census records, and marriage lists all provide many names. Your local librarian can assist you. If you research from your computer or another device The US GenWeb Archives provides lists of the above-mentioned from the comfort of your couch with your feet up. Other sources for character naming I have heard over the years in writers’ meetings and writing classes are telephone directories, street names, family names, and more. Today, again thanks to the Internet, we can find any of the above quickly and easily. But before you go to this trouble I have another suggestion - one that I use first. It is my quick, unusual Magical Technique, but I get results and I hope it works for you too. Let’s begin by clearing the mind and relaxing. Find a comfortable position in a quiet place. (Feet up is fine) Review your story and your setting, and pick one of your characters who needs a name. Let’s say your character is a woman.
Be sure to write down her name before you forget it. If she didn’t give you her last name, you may need help in developing it, but her first name should now be apparent. Sometimes your characters will give you their last name also, but be sure to investigate the full name to prove it didn’t come from your subconscious or the movie you watched last night. When I need last names, I like to use surnames or various combinations of surnames from my family history research. But often when I research the area where my story takes place, I will use a name or create a combination of names of people, places, and events for my characters’ surnames. I would love to hear if my Magical Technique worked for you, but also, please share any special techniques you use to name your characters. Happy writing!
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