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WRITERS' Journal

Table of Contents
January/February 2007
Volume 28, Number 1

      .....Editor's Note, by Leon Ogroske 

Romance: sensuality put into words. Some writers may think that is all there is to writing romance. Not so says Catherine Lanigan on page 13. Catherine authored a fine book on writing romance novels and has given us an article on writing romance short stories. Whether you are composing a novel or a short story, the fundamental parts are the same: Beginning, middle, and end. Candice Vetter, on page 41, adds to Catherine’s thoughts, giving us a few more hints as to how we might be better romance writers.

Maybe your novel needs an outstanding hero. Have you ever thought how your Psychology 101 course might help? Kathryn Deik Bailey, on page 46, unveils how we might give our characters just the right attitude to make them memorable and to enhance them with qualities you might not have thought of.

Ready? Set up your writing space, page 51, with a little Feng Shui.

Set? If a favorite novel sticks in your mind; it is most likely because it was well written. A difference exists between plagiarism and modeling a story after another. Suzanna Henshon shows us on page 19 how great works can be most helpful in inspiring us to create new stories.

Go? Sure. But first allow Brian Noggle to help you outline a story with hints found on page 44.

But wait! Before you shut down the PC, please back up your material. Vickey Kalambakal gives us many alternatives whereby we can save multiple files for access in the event our computer crashes. If you haven’t backed up your files recently, drop everything—okay, after you read the winning Romance Contest stories—and just do it. That one instance where you use a back-up file to pull you out of a catastrophe is well worth the time you spent copying it.

Speaking of the winning Romance Contest stories, I just have to commend Janet Bear on her First Prize win. She did a great job and gave us a memorable story. That is just what the judges like. Elizabeth Hawn in "Something Wonderful" offers a complete story, too.

Vampire stories are hard to do well, as a rule, but Gurpreet Jawa uses an unusual twist to gain votes from the judges in this contest.

Our Write to Win! Contest winner offers a tight, fast-paced story for our enjoyment. Great characterization brought this tale to the top. Good character diction, description, and believability draw the reader into a realistic situation.

Leon Ogroske, editor

Columns

  4       .....Readers' P.O.V.

  5       .....Massaging the Muse, Lynne Pisano
           Keep Your Eye on the Goal

  6       .....Marketing Helps, Janet Elaine Smith
           How Bold Are You, Really? 

  7       .....Vocabulary Review, Carolyn Howard-Johnson
           "Nyms"

  8       .....Effective Screenwriting, by Christina Hamlett
           Happily Ever Hereafter
           "Til death do us part" has always been a popular movie theme, celebrating the concept of eternal soulmates and the triumph of romance over earthly adversity. That fidelity can endure beyond a grieving lover's good-byes at a partner's gravesite is further manifested in a host of ghostly films that attest to the strength of that human spirit and all of its inherent passions....

 11      .....Photography Techniques, by Ronald D. Kness
           Would You Like That Raw?—Part 1
           No, we aren't talking about how you would like your hamburger. We are talking about a relatively new file format called RAW, in which the image is recorded but not processed by the camera. Because it is not processed, the data is still "raw." RAW files are uncompressed, pristine representations of what the camera's image sensor captures when you press the shutter release. RAW images are totally unprocessed....

 59       .....For Beginners Only, by Lucille Anton
           Tell It Simply
           At a writers' seminar that I attended some years back, we were told to "write what you know." It made me do some serious thinking. Writing fiction wasn't my thing; plotting and suspense flew right out the window when I tried writing what I knew....

 60      .....Words...Tools of Our Trade, by Betty Garton Ulrich
           Is Logic the Missing Ingredient in Your Writing?
           Sometimes I get an insight on some topic that I haven't read anywhere else. Because I am a Christian and also a writer, I feel that I should develop that insight into an article. But then, I don't do it. Why? Let's face it, thinking is hard; but even harder is putting thoughts into words that not only clearly express those thoughts but also are persuasive, logical, and, in appropriate cases, inspiring. Sometimes we want readers to change their thinking, change their actions, become further enlightened, or find some truth they have felt but didn't know how to express. ....

 59       .....WRITERS' Journal Market Report, by Laurie Graziano
            January/February 2007 Market Report Plus, DC Comics and Wizard Entertainment
            Some traditions die hard, and, luckily, cartooning is one of them. This form of expression has guided us through the Great Depression and world wars I and II, not to mention our own personal trials; The old Costello Bar in New York, now known as the Overlook Lounge, played host to numerous cartoonists on a mission to bring happiness and a little frivolity to otherwise scripted lives. These sometimes unnoticed artists/writers fill a void on our fantastic voyage through life....

                   Markets: E. C. Publications, Mad Magazine, The Comics Journal, Wizard, InQuest Gamer, ToyFare, Anime Insider, Toy Wishes, Wizarduniverse.com, Bat Man: Legends of the Dark Knight, Justice League of America, Supergirl, Superman, Looney Tunes, Teen Titans, Go, Wonder Woman, Shadowpact, The Blue Beetle, Scooby-Doo, DC Comics.

Feature Articles

 13       .....Winning through Structure, by Catherine Lanigan
            Assembling the Bones of a Riveting Story
            Writing an interesting, saleable, and possible award-winning story of any length requires structure and organization. Whether you are writing a short story or a lengthy historical novel, you must adhere to the three-act structure of a beginning, a middle, and an end. This may sound simplistic, but it's not....

 15       .....Short vs. Long Queries, by Behlor Santi
            The Debate
            "Editors are very busy," says Melissa Walker, senior features editor for ELLEgirl. "You're either a succinct writer (which is very necessary in this business) or you're not." According to Walker, even semi-interesting ideas get tossed if they are not written to the point....

 19       .....Familiar Inspiration, by Suzanna E. Henshon
            How Old Stories Can Inspire Your Writing
            How many times have you suffered through writer's block? How often have you thought, "I could never write a book like Charlotte's Web or The Adventures of Tom Sawyer"? While you might not be able to write a classic, you can use the classics to inspire your own writing. Let's take a look at how other writers have reworked old classics and created new, fresh fiction....

 21       .....Is Life Getting in the Way of Your Writing Career?, by Dennis E. Hensley
            Here's Help!
            A woman approached me recently at a writers' conference and said, "Okay, you've written two books on time management, so I want some answers from you. I've got a zillion great ideas for short stories, devotions, articles, and novels. Problem is, I've got a husband and two kids to care for; a house to run, a part-time job, and several church obligations. How can I ever get any writing done?"...

 23       .....New Rule on Works-in-Progress: Manuscripts Are Over, by Suzanne Stroh
            Get Your Manuscript into Readers' Hands Effectively—and on the Cheap
            Rounding the final turn on the third draft of my novel quintet, I decided to take a break before sprinting to the finish line. A few hours later I found myself in a dark cinema watching Sideways, 2005's superb buddy comedy about a struggling writer whose mammoth (and unsold) fiction manuscript lives in the back seat of his car. When the author tries to share his two-ream opus with the woman he loves, I could almost feel the 8-pound weight of the handoff. And I felt his pain when I saw the look on her face. She wanted his book, not a set of barbells....

 41       .....Why Romance Is Hot, by Candice Vetter
            An Actively Acquiring Market
            What is the least respected form of fiction? Romance. What has the largest market share? That's right....

 42       .....Writers' Notebook
           Twice as Fast, by Rob Loughran
           Quote, Misquote., by Colin G. West
           

 43       .....Self-Published Author Sells 1,700 Copies to Waldenbooks, by Carrie Carr 
            Author Gets Fast Lesson in Self-Publishing
            Because of the expense and the increasing number of manuscripts submitted to publishers everyday, traditional publishers have become increasingly closed to new authors, making it difficult for the newcomer. Publishers are adopting the corporate mentality of putting all their money behind best sellers and sure bets while ignoring anything that carries a risk. It's because of this that authors such as I have been driven to take an alternative pathway: self-publishing....

 44       .....Building Inspiration, by Brian J. Noggle
            From Subject Plus Predicate to Story
            Mickey Spillane offered simple advice: Put paper in the typewriter, your, um bottom in the chair, and write. As any writer knows, the first two are particularly easy. Computer printers can hold a lot of paper indefinitely, and computers and laptops can store more words than we'll probably ever type. Comfortable and inexpensive office chairs or coffee shop sofas accommodate posteriors well. But the third part of Spillane's theorem proves the most difficult to writers each and every time they, through discipline, begin anew with the same blank slate, blinking cursor, or fresh page in the old Smith-Corona. But just as easily as banging out the simplest of declarative sentences, a writer can begin a new piece of short fiction....

 46       .....Put Some Personality into Your Characters,  by Kathryn Deik Bailey
            Weak Characters? Try a Little Psychology!
           Having trouble with character development? Why not try a little psychology? Dr. Tim LaHaye, author of Why You Act the Way You Do, asserts that there are four basic personality types. By combining these four archetypes in varying degrees, says Dr. LaHaye, society gets an astonishing variety of eccentrics, oddballs, and sociopaths. By combining these types, you can get a fabulous array of colorful characters for your fiction as well....

 47       .....Emergency Preparedness for Writers,  by Vickey Kalambakal
            Have You Copied Your Files Lately?
           Whenever storms, earthquakes, or fires turn lives upside down, we're inundated by articles of emergency preparedness. We've all heard the advice: "Keep a backpack by the door, a first-aid kit in the car, pack up the family photos."....

 48       .....Interview with Jerry B. Jenkins,  by Jennifer Opperman
            With Book Review of Writing for the Soul
           Jerry B. Jenkins is currently the world's most successful author. His Left Behind series of novels, cowritten with Tim LaHaye, has sold more than 64 million copies, and the first three novels in the series have been made into movies. Additionally, Jenkins has written more than 140 other books, including as-told-to biographies of such noted celebrities as Reverend Billy Graham and baseball legend Nolan Ryan....

 51       .....Feng Shui for Writers,  by Gay Ingram
            Boost Your Creativity with Feng Shui
           Virginia Woolf wrote about "A Room of One's Own." Like this talented author, every serious writer strives to create that special place: a place charged with energy and creativity; a place where the words come tumbling out in perfect sentences guaranteed to evolve into a big-bucks article sale or a best-selling book....

Fiction

 27       .....For Life, by Janet Bear
            First Prize Winner of 2006 Romance Contest

 28       .....Something Wonderful, by Elizabeth L. Hawn
            Second Prize Winner of 2006 Romance Contest

 30       .....The Third Date, by Gurpreet Jawa
            Third Prize Winner of 2006 Rmance Contest

 34       .....The seX Factor, by Lindsley Rinard
            H. M. Winner of 2005 Short Story Contest

 36       .....Mwali's Dream, by Mignon Murrell
            H. M. Winner of 2005 Short Story Contest

August 20, 2006 Write to Win! Winner

 38       ....."The Lesson" "It was a small box, but...," by Martha L. Keller

Poetry

 52       .....Every Day With Poetry, by Esther M. Leiper
            "Accidental Accidents"
            The word accident is vaguer than one might think, unless one pictures a particular and specific happening. Consider when an almost-potty-trained toddler has an "accident," then consider the accident of a train derailment or jets colliding in midair. Poets would naturally treat the first instance in a far different manner than the second two. Recall Tennyson's famous ballad The Charge of the Light Brigade, written about an incident during the Battle of Balaclava. While the cavalry understood that their orders were flawed, they went forward to obey honor and chain of command. Nearly half died....

 53       .....Esther Comments On..., by Esther M. Leiper
            "With Spring Arising" and "Not the Raven, but the Crow"
            "With Spring Arising" by Millard Davis and the second critique poem, "Not the Raven, but the Crow" by Connie Ross, offer opposing sonnets that afford a challenging opportunity of comparison and contrast. For a start, neither follows a pattern instantly recognizable as Shakespearean, Petrarchan, or other accepted if less familiar forms. However; each piece is fourteen lines in length and displays the brevity that successful sonnets maintain....