HANGING ON A CLFF

 

It’s the Monthly Blog Hop for the Insecure Writers Support Group founded by Alex J. Cavanaugh. 

The first Wednesday of every month, an optional question is announced that members can answer in their IWSG post. These questions may prompt you to share advice, insight, a personal experience, or even a story. Include your answer to the question in your IWSG post. Remember, the question optional. 

Let’s rock the neurotic writing world!
Our Twitter handle is @TheIWSG and hashtag is #IWSG.

The awesome co-hosts for the December 4 posting of the IWSG are Ronel, Deniz, Pat Garcia, Olga Godim, and Cathrina Constantine!

 

 

December 4 question - Do you write cliffhangers at the end of your stories? Are they a turn-off to you as a writer and/or a reader?

 

 I don’t write cliff hangers at the end of a book...

But rather... 

I leave the reader with hope that when the book ends...

There’ll be a second or third book with the same characters.  

BUT...

In my EM series... 

I do leave cliff hangers at the end of most of my chapters... 

My hope is that the reader will be that curious...

And want to continue to the next chapter, and the next, and the next.

When I'm reading a novel it bugs me when a chapter ends... 

But the next chapter is not a continuation...

But rather it jumps to another part of the story that doesn’t seem connected... 

This is when I appreciate a timeline, a date, or something to string the chapters along.

But then...

I’m a lazy reader, or I have ADD, or my mind wonders... 

And I often forget names if they’re not a  main character or aren't mentioned enough...

Especially if the names start with same letter, or sound similar

Like: Ellen, Eleanor, Ester, etc...

Then I have to go back and find those characters to refresh my memory.

But then, it’s probably just me.

What about you?  

Do you write cliffhangers? Or enjoy them?

Always,

Em-Musing

Merry Christmas!

See you in the New Year!

 

Creative Minds Create

 It’s the Monthly Blog Hop for the Insecure Writers Support Group founded by Alex J. Cavanaugh. 

The first Wednesday of every month, an optional question is announced that members can answer in their IWSG post. These questions may prompt you to share advice, insight, a personal experience, or even a story. Include your answer to the question in your IWSG post. Remember, the question optional.  

Let’s rock the neurotic writing world!
Our Twitter handle is @TheIWSG and hashtag is #IWSG.

The awesome co-hosts for the  November 6 posting of the IWSG are Diedre Knight, Lisa Buie Collard , Kim Lajevardi, and JQ Rose!

 November 6 question - What creative activity do you engage in when you're not writing?

Remember, the question is optional

What do I do?

I do art...

Painting murals...

Designing artistic landscaping...

And mosaics. 

But not all the time.

Because just like with my writing... 

I create in spurts...

I’ll get an idea from who knows where...

It will get stuck in my brain...

Then my muse goes into action...

For months or sometimes even a year. 

But before I’m ready to start...

And while my idea is percolating ...

I’ll research my brains out...

Looking for new trends to expand my idea...

And check out what's already out there...

Like authors reading other authors' books...

Then voila! 

I can visualize what my art will look like...

But before I say, I’m going to do this...

There’s always a hesitancy:

It’s a stupid idea!

I’ll get lazy and won’t finish it!

It’ll be ugly!

They're the same emotions I go through when I start writing a novel...

INSECURITY!

But the good thing about my art is...

I can do whatever I want...

There’ll be no queries to send out...

There’re no agents I have attract...

And the only one I have to please is me.

What about you?

What creative activity do you do?

 

Always, 

Em-Musing

DON'T GO DOWN THE BASEMENT

 

It’s the Monthly Blog Hop for the Insecure Writers Support Group

 founded by Alex J. Cavanaugh. 

The first Wednesday of every month, an optional question is announced that members can answer in their IWSG post. These questions may prompt you to share advice, insight, a personal experience, or even a story. Include your answer to the question in your IWSG post. Remember, the question optional.  Let's rock the neurotic writing world!

 Our Twitter handle is @TheIWSG and hashtag is #IWSG.

 The awesome co-hosts for the  October 2 posting of the IWSG are Nancy Gideon, Jennifer Lane, Jacqui Murray, and Natalie Aguirre! 

 

October 2 question - Ghost stories fit right in during this month. What's your favorite classic ghostly tale? Tell us about it and why it sends chills up your spine.

 

 

It’s so annoying! 

When I’m watching a scary movie...

And one of the characters hears something down the basement...

Don’t go down the basement!

Of course, they go down and something bad happens.

And I hate to admit it...

But I did something stupid... 

Down the basement!

When I was a junior in high school... 

My uncle was a collector of antique books...

My father would often go over to his shop... 

And buy books such as: 

Milton’s Paradise Lost          Dante's Inferno

Because, being an artist, he liked the illustrations in them. 

One day he brought home a book dated 1858 entitled: Incantations and Spells... 

My mother turned her nose up it and called it a witch book.

Me? I was fascinated... 

I recruited my two friends to go through the book with me.

During the course of that summer, we read every page... 

Down in the basement. 

Once, we tried spells to make one boy fall in love with one of my friends. (didn’t work)

All was okay for a while until...

One evening my mother called me for dinner. I was in the basement when I happened to look down and saw my grandmother’s feet. She was barefoot and wearing a long gown. Why wasn’t she wearing shoes? And I’d never seen her in a long dress. Weird, I thought, then ran up the stairs and into the kitchen stopping abruptly because there at the kitchen table was my grandmother. I didn't say anything about seeing the apparition. 

A few days later, my mother was heading downstairs to the basement to start a load of wash... 

Don’t go down the basement!

She told my father later at dinner that the basement had a cold draft that hadn’t been there before. and she felt it again when she hung the clothes on the clothesline to dry. 

Later, she asked me to get the clothes and bring them upstairs.

Don’t go down the basement!

I also felt the cold air plus a heaviness—or presence—in the air. It creeped me out.  But still I said nothing.

A few days later... 

My mother was doing another load of laundry... 

Don’t go down the basement!

And she saw the same apparition of an old woman in a long gown walk past her and told my father, but he just laughed saying her blood sugar was probably low and there are no such things as ghosts. 

I knew better... 

It was only when my father actually saw the old woman standing right in front of him

that he took action. He burned the witches’ book.

There are more stories about that book and what came up from below, 

But not from the basement—from another realm...

Those stories, though are for another time.

 So?

What's your favorite classic ghostly tale?  

Have you ever seen a ghost? 

And are you afraid of going down basements?

Always,

Em-Musing

P.S. Interestingly that book also had an illustration of Pythagoras’ Wheel, that, if asked a question needing a yes or no answer it would give you the answer.

The book also explained in detail how to tell the future using Geomancy but I didn’t want to figure it out. It was too much like doing math which I hated.

VERY-LY I POST TO THEE

 

It’s the Monthly Blog Hop for the Insecure Writers Support Group founded by Alex J. Cavanaugh. 

The first Wednesday of every month, an optional question is announced that members can answer in their IWSG post. These questions may prompt you to share advice, insight, a personal experience, or even a story. Include your answer to the question in your IWSG post. Remember, the question optional. 

Our Twitter handle is @TheIWSG and hashtag is #IWSG.

 

The awesome co-hosts for the September 4 posting of the IWSG are Beth Camp, Jean Davis, Yvonne Ventresca, and PJ Colando!

September 4 question - Since it's back to school time, let's talk English class. What's a writing rule you learned in school that messed you up as a writer?

English was my favorite subject in school... 

I loved writing flowery poems ...

Using many adjectives and adverbs...

And my grades were good...

The only reprimand I got from teachers...

Was my punctuation.

(do poems need punctuation?)

So, I was shocked when I started writing in the 'real' world

And learned that using adjectives and adverbs...

Is just telling a story and not showing it.

Adjectives and adverbs also slow down a story. 

Obviously, (sorry) King and Twain agree:

“The road to hell is paved with adverbs.” – Stephen King 

 “Adverbs are the tool of the lazy writer.” “If you see an adverb, kill it.”  – Mark Twain

Actually, (sorry) I'm sure you all know...

It's the overuse of adjectives and adverbs that need to die. 

My writing is better now for the most part... 

And for the "unmost” part...

My blog posts are where I can write freely (sorry) 

Whatever and however my little heart desires (a cliché)

And just for grins and giggles (yup, another cliché) 

Here’re some stats of two famous authors regarding adverbs:

 

Hemingway used only 80 adverbs in every 10,000 words while J.K. Rowling used 140 per 10,000.  And King said this: “Ms. Rowling seems to have never met one [adverbs] she didn't like”.

 

I’m pretty sure (sorry) Rowling and her bank accounts really (sorry) don’t care about her overuse of adverbs.

And you?

What are your feelings on adjectives and adverbs?

And what writing rule messed you up as a writer?

Always,

Em-Musing

 

 

I AM NOT A ROBOT

  

Hey! It’s the Monthly Blog Hop for the Insecure Writers Support Group founded by Alex J. Cavanaugh. 

The first Wednesday of every month, we announce an optional question that members can answer in their IWSG post. These questions may prompt you to share advice, insight, a personal experience, or story. Include your answer to the question in your IWSG post or let it inspire The question is optional.

                                         Our Twitter handle is @TheIWSG and hashtag is #IWSG. 

The awesome co-hosts for the August 7 posting of the IWSG are: Feather Stone, Kim Lajevardi, Diedre Knight, C. Lee McKenzie, and Sarah - The Faux Fountain Pen!

 August 7 question - Do you use AI in your writing and if so, how? Do you use it for your posts? Incorporate it into your stories? Use it for research? Audio?

I pride myself on my writing and creative thoughts. I would feel like a big fat cheater if I used AI to write for me. 

But, when writing this post...

I got curious about the origins of AI...

And did some researching (thanks AI)...

And found that AI has been with us for many decades... 

But before AI came Robots...

A term that was created in 1920 by a Czech named Karel Capek... 

Who wrote the play, Rossum’s Universal Robots—R.U.R.

FYI: robot is a term derived from robata, a Czech word that means “forced labor”.

The play is about enslaved synthetic humans who were made to serve

human masters and in the end the robots kill all humans proclaiming that they have emotions too. (obviously not forgiveness)

I keep wondering—or fearing—just how far we humans can take AI...

Hollywood and authors have had a field day with possibilities...

But I wonder about science...

How far can science go?

When is enough, enough?

And then I got to wondering...

If I am a physical creation of God (and I believe I am) 

And my brain has been programed to think... 

Am I merely a flesh and blood robot?

No!

Because while I can compare my brain to AI... 

And my physical body to a robot... 

Something is still lacking in this scenario...

A conscience!

And God's Spirit!

Which I believe is different than a life force that animals and all other living things have.

Thoughts?

 And how do you use AI?

Always,

Em-Musing

 

P.S. Here’s a link to more of this story:

WORD UP

 

Hey! It’s the Monthly Blog Hop for the Insecure Writers Support Group founded by Alex J. Cavanaugh. 

The first Wednesday of every month, we announce an optional question that members can answer in their IWSG post. These questions may prompt you to share advice, insight, a personal experience, or story. Include your answer to the question in your IWSG post or let it inspire your post if you are struggling with something to say 

Let’s rock the neurotic writing world!
Our Twitter handle is @TheIWSG and hashtag is #IWSG. 

 

The awesome co-hosts for the  July 3 posting of the IWSG are JS Pailly, Rebecca Douglass, Pat Garcia, Louise-Fundy Blue, and Natalie Aguirre!
 

July 3 question - What are your favorite writing processing (e.g. Word, Scrivener, yWriter, Dabble), writing apps, software, and tools? Why do you recommend them? And which one is your all-time favorite that you cannot live without and use daily or at least whenever you write?

Remember, the question is optional

Word has always been my “go to” software...

I’ve stuck with it through all its versions:

Good, bad, bugs and all....

And let me tell you...

One version had lots of bugs.

Last year...

When I went to the Writer’s Digest conference in NYC...

I took a mini class in Word and—WOW!

There were so many features I didn't even know existed.

Obviously, teaching myself isn’t the best way for me to learn...

Because I’m impatient, get frustrated easily, and give up often.

One time I tried Scrivener and thought it had great options...

But I kept going back to Word because it was familiar...

But more, Word is the standard when submitting...

And I don’t want to write in one software program...

And then have to copy and paste into another format...

I have enough going on in my head when I write...

I don’t want to clutter it figuring out how to do that. 

(Yes...I'm a wuss)

Lastly...

 HAPPY 4^TH OF JULY to all!

And may all your BBQ dream cuisines  come true!

Always, 

Em Musing 

 

KNOW HOW TO " NO"

  

Hey! It's the monthly blog posting on Insecure Writer's Support Group  started by Alex J. Cavanaugh. Every month, we announce a question that members can answer in their IWSG post. These questions may prompt you to share advice, insight, a personal experience or story. Include your answer to the question in your IWSG post or let it inspire your post if you are struggling with something to say. 

Remember, the question is optional

The awesome co-hosts for the May 1 posting of the IWSG are Victoria Marie Lees, Kim Lajevardi, Nancy Gideon, and Cathrina Constantine!

May 1 question - How do you deal with distractions when you are writing? Do they derail you? 

My distractions are voices in my head....

One voice is alluring, often tempting, and sometimes riddled with guilt. 

The other voice— my muse —is my cheerleader encouraging me to stay B-I-C (butt in chair)

So, there I’ll be at my desk in my office...

With coffee steam wafting from my cup... 

Fingers poised ready to write (YAY) for a whole day when... 

Why don’t you check Amazon for a dress for the upcoming wedding?

NO! She needs to write.

Better check out airline tickets. Prices are going up.

NO! She can check later. 

There’s a new reel on Instagram with babies laughing!

NO! She’ll keep looking for more babies laughing and waste time.

         You should check out the severe weather in Mongolia. Scary!

         NO! Why should she care about Mongolian weather?  

         Let's  make those nut protein bars you saw on Instagram.

         NO! It’ll take too long. She can eat crackers now.

         Call your cousin. You haven’t talked in months.

         NO! She’ll call soon. Her cousin will understand

         How about we Google essential oils that remove whiskers. 

         NO! She can keep plucking them.

         You need to do laundry. Clean your refrigerator! Exercise!

         NO! One more day won’t matter.

C’mon…take a break and let’s watch that series  on Netflix. You deserve it. You’ve been working really hard.

ME: Well, maybe one episode with my afternoon coffee. But only one then back to work. 

So?

How do you handle your distractions?

Always,

Em-Musing

         .