Writing

Behind Door Number Four (And Where the Heck is Donald Crowley?)

/ Janna Hill / Leave a comment

I would like to think Donald Crowley would be impressed with this new cover but he (for whatever reason)  is not returning my calls.

Encase you don’t know Don, here’s a little bit about him — or rather his past.

Donald S. Crowley was a CPA by day; a bean counter; a number cruncher and a certified bore. By night he was as stimulating as the hero in his latest read with all the social skills of a brick and to make matters worse he was in love with a door. Not just any door, number four was special. Her alluring smile had caught Donald’s eye when he was just a boy and she called him by name. Despite years of therapy and medications she still called to him. Now he would risk his life to see her again and to finally know what lay behind
Door Number IIII.

Available wherever e-books are sold.

The End

/ Janna Hill / Leave a comment

Today is the last day of November and the end of NaNoWriMo.

Crane in Saltgrass end of November

If you are one who has already or will be typing the end today — congratulations!

If you are one who threw in the towel days or weeks ago — it is not the end of the world!

The earth is still in orbit, the sun still rises in the east, the Apocalypse has not occurred (unless I missed it) and if you can pinch yourself then the Messiah has not arrived. Be thankful.

This is not the end.

This is only the beginning.

Write on!!

 

It’s Time to Wrap it Up

/ Janna Hill / Leave a comment

The deadline for NaNoWriMo is fast approaching and Christmas is around the corner — tick-tock… tick-tock…tick-tock… tick-tock Wrap it up

It’s time to wrap it up.

How’s your ending coming along? Are you going to leave us with a cliff hanger and chomping at the bit? Is there a wild twist/turn of events that makes us say Wow!

Will it be a happy ever after (HEA)? Does a character need to die? Will good triumph over evil? Maybe all of the above?

It’s your story, you get to decide how it ends and how you present it to the world.

And just think when you’ve typed The End you can get busy hitting the thrift stores in search of the perfect hideous sweater for your grumpy old aunt you secretly despise.

Write on!!

Writing for the World to Read (Tuesday’s Tell All)

/ Janna Hill / 2 Comments

Understanding & the Interpretation of Words.

English may be the most recognized language worldwide but it is also probably the most confusing.
Even in English speaking countries we have such a vast collection of dialects (or sub-forms of English) that it is not always easy to interpret what is being said. Add to that the accents, grammar arguments, idioms/colloquialisms and hell (pardon my French) – we don’t understand what we are trying to say half the time.
It is no wonder other cultures complain that English is confusing; there are too many words that have so many variable meanings.
For example: In the tiny world where I grew up a cock was a rooster… a male bird. That’s all it was!
Yo! Yo! Yo! Hold the jokes – you are in mixed company here. Besides, there is a point to this.

For me that WORD still summons the image of a rooster, a gamecock to be specific.

gamecock gray roosters.JPG

That is until something else is implied by accompanying words or a facial expression.

As writer’s all we have are words!

The reader can’t see your face and they are probably not from your neck of the woods.
While you are writing I want you to consider how your audience interprets your words; your story.

Keep it real and reel them into your scenes in such a way they don’t feel like they are struggling through a foreign film.
After all you are writing for the world to read, right?
Right!
Write on!!

Don’t Get Too Caught Up in the Color (Mad Monday)

/ Janna Hill / Leave a comment

Friday I combined tasks because I was busy getting ready for a wild week-end. Today I’m linking the same challenges because of said week-end.

I’m tellin’ you things got cRaZy and I [might be] getting too old for that sh*t.

Anyway…

Who doesn’t love a colorful image?
Whether it is a brilliant photograph; a lively painting or a dynamic story created by stringing words together, people love color.
But be careful the details in your composition aren’t obscured by color.

Day 6 B&W compost and shovel (800x487)

Although a little purple in your prose can be captivating too much might leave the reader in a [not so pleasant] purple haze – like the one I am recovering from today. 😉

Write on!!

 

 

 

Friday’s Free-for-all (Deserted)

/ Janna Hill / 1 Comment

I’m busy today so this photo prompt serves a dual purpose/challenge.
• Seven days, seven black and white photos of your life, no people, no explanation.
• Writers write what you don’t see.

 

An empty playground could just as well be an abandoned mall or a vacant house.
Why is it deserted?
Feel the essence and let the words flow.
Write on!!

Throw Back Thursday (Feel Free to Digress)

/ Janna Hill / 2 Comments

Janna Hill with hat and flag

Sometimes our thoughts meander…
And sometimes a character doesn’t reveal a fact about their past that is somehow pertinent to their future.
In such cases feel free to digress.
Try to deviate without losing/confusing the reader, e.g. dedicate a chapter to expose what they were trying to hide, like that hideous hat I was so fond of. 😉

Write on!!

Tuesday’s Tell All (It’s Only Natural)

/ Janna Hill / Leave a comment

Plots and characters are like plants and seasons; they come and go. They bloom, hopefully they shine and then they perish.
But even in their perishing they can serve a purpose.
It’s only natural.

For you NaNoWriMoers right now just write. You can decide what goes into the compost pile later.

compost (1024x694)

Write on!!

Mad Monday (Break the Rules)

/ Janna Hill / 5 Comments

You know I mentioned going to Benton Arkansas last Friday.
It was a nice break. We shopped a little, ate too much, chattered like magpies and — well, I just had to see the old sanitarium/asylum aka “nervous hospital” where Karl spent most of his life.
Thank goodness my family is as adventurous and crazy as me.
There were no observable signs that forbade us from entering, so…
We considered going in a window but oddly enough we did not have to.

The doors seemed to beckon and willingly opened without the slightest resistance and ta-da, we were in.

and we are in... (800x533)

Exploring the dilapidated history in search of answers and ghosts and what-ifs.

And possibly inheriting a demon or a deadly disease. :/

What does this story have to do with writing?
This: Every now and then you have to break the rules to spice things up.
Of course you need to know the rules before you break them and sometimes the rules are not obvious.

Write On!!