Tag Archives: Margie Lawson

A Lifelong Student

mermaids, Pintip, Writing

Highlighters: green, blue, yellow, orange, and pink. Check.
Three-ring binder with printed-out manuscript. Check.
Lecture packets on how to write fresh, use rhetorical devices, and assess my writing for weaknesses using a rainbow-colored system. Check, check, and check.

Can anyone guess what I’m doing today? That’s right! I’m attending one of Margie Lawson’s Immersion Master Classes.pintip

I am so excited to meet Margie, to hang out with fellow writers for the next four days, and, most of all, to learn!

I love school. From kindergarten through college through law school, I adored exploring new subjects and acquiring the skills needed to think about old subjects in a new way. But just because I’ve graduated doesn’t mean my days of study have to end.

This morning, my son asked where I was going this weekend.

“Class,” I said.

“What?” He scrunched his eyes the way he does when I tell a particularly funny joke. “You mean you’re going to be the teacher?”

“No, honey,” I responded. “I’m the student.”

“But you’re an adult! You can’t be a student!”

“Of course I can,” I said, ruffling his hair. “I plan to be a student all my life.”

A good student. A punctual one. Which means I’d bet
ter get going before Margie rings the tardy bell. Wish me luck!

While I’m making the mad dash to class, please share. How do you feel about learning? What was the last class you took? Would you rather be student or teacher?

NaNo Midway Point

Kimberly MacCarron, mermaids, , , ,

Okay, people. This will be short today because I can’t be wasting my word count on a blog post. Some of you are nodding because you understand. Some of you won’t read this post until December. I understand that too.

For those of you in the dark, I’m talking about NaNoWriMo—National Novel Writing Month.

nanowrimo2-308x450

Like Veterans Day and Thanksgiving, it happens every November. You commit to writing a 50,000-word novel. That’s it. That’s all. It’s very simple. Right?! Can I get an AMEN?

This year I started off strong, mostly because my local chapter (WRW) had a first annual write-in on November 1st. My kids had soccer games and other activities previously scheduled. If I had followed the same pattern as every other November 1st, I probably wouldn’t have written a word that day. Instead, when Kathy Seidel opened her home to fifty chapter members, I jumped at the chance. I knew if I committed far enough in advance, I would follow through with my goal of starting the book. So I farmed out my kids for the day. I missed a soccer tournament and several of my other kids’ activities as well.

Did I feel guilty? Hell no! I wrote almost 3,000 words that first day, which kicked off a rather successful NaNo month for me.

Up until recently, that is. At 38,000 words, I’m starting to stumble. Starting to lose my way. Starting to think about all the plot points that don’t make sense. Starting to wonder how the hell I’m going to wrap this thing up.

It’s at this midway point where I start realizing all the things wrong with the plot. It’s usually at the midway point where I finally get a decent grasp of a character’s motivations, his or her personality, the setting, the tone. But the characters didn’t start out that way. So I have to gag my inner critic/editor who wants to rush back to the beginning and start fixing.

But I need to finish the damn book. I also have to obsess about word count. I have to keep refreshing that stats page on the NaNo website so I can watch the graph rise. (Admit it! You do it too!) I have to check out my writing buddies and see how they’re doing.
That inner editor itches to go back and start fixing the beginning. But if I do, I could potentially lose word count.

So I’m pressing ahead. I. Will. Finish. This. Book.

Normally, I wouldn’t be stressed about the potential awfulness of this first draft, but I have another problem. Her name is Margie Lawson.  I signed up for an Immersion class beginning next week, hosted by Denny Mermaid, where we deep edit our story, and I plan to work on this NaNo book.

Now, I’m sure I can sift through the 50,000 words of the new book and come out with a few that are keepers, but usually large chunks hit the virtual trash can.

I set a goal for myself to finish this book before next Wednesday, which is a far cry from the other years, where I have generally slid under the finish line—dusty and tired—at the last minute. But what a ride!

Who’s doing NaNo this year? If so, how are you doing? Here’s your place to brag or seek commiseration. Here’s the place to admit you feel some word-count envy when you see your writing buddy’s graph rising every day when you stumble into your own road block.

When you do hit that writer’s block, reach out to your writing friends. Ask for help. A fifteen-minute brainstorming session could easily get you back on the right road. That’s what writing friends are for.

GH 2014 photo

Ask a Mermaid: The @MargieLawson Experience

Ask a Mermaid, Writing, , ,

Do you want to add a psychological punch to your writing and editing?

Are you interested in capturing the full range of body language on the page?

Is your goal to turn your work into a page-turner by powering up emotion and hooking the reader viscerally?

Well, duh! What writer doesn’t want to do those things? Recently, many of the mermaids left the lagoon for a writing workshop. What kind of awesomeness does it take to get us to leave the warm waters? The Margie Lawson kind.

Here are a few of the things we picked up during the Empowering Characters’ Emotions workshop presented by Margie Lawson and the Washington Romance Writers.

***

Denny S. Bryce said:

“I was reminded that revising a manuscript is a different ball game (cliche) than writing one, and there is an ebb and flow (cliche) to story telling that includes green, yellow, orange, blue with a well-timed blush of pink. As with any thoughtful craft session, I walked away from Saturday with another weapon in my writers toolkit (cliche, cliche, cliche:)! I also learned I can’t stop writing freaking CLICHES!

Seriously, Margie helped me understand how to avoid melodrama and the true meaning of cliche, especially as it applies to writing romance. So, what’s next now that I have these insights? I’ll let you know after I begin Margie’s class in January:)…”

Carlene Love Flores said:

“I left the Margie Lawson meeting feeling like a mad scientist, equipped with new-to-me terms like Anadiplosis, Anaphora, Haptics and Proxemics.  My favorite, Haptics, which is the power of touch and the easiest to pronounce 😉  And who can forget the term for when our normally lazy little body hairs stand at attention?  Pilo Erection! ”

Avery Flynn said:

“Some of my favorites include:

1. Write fresh. For example, don’t write ‘His stomach clenched.’ write something like, ‘His stomach shifted like a Buick on black ice.’

2. Always challenge your word choices.

3. Your character’s visceral reactions need to be caused by emotion and written in an expressive and fresh way.

4. Use words that carry psychological power and backload those words so that your sentences end with them. For example, ‘He’ll die if you give him the epi.’ becomes ‘If you give him the epi, he’ll die.’

5. A good way to slip in backstory is to slip it into dialogue cues and body language.”

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A big thanks to Margie for inspiring so many mermaids. 🙂