[stylist] How could I improve this story?

Fri May 11 01:29:44 UTC 2012

Traveling Mercies was one of her first books, published around the late 90s 
I think. It is about her personal journal to find herself as a person, and 
as a writer.

It is a narrative created by writing a series of stories and weaving them 
together. The writing style she created is quirky, will have you in fits of 
laughter as we go on her journey of faith in finding God, and in the 
meanwhile finding her own voice and her self.

Her stories are of  ordinary life and this book would be a definite boost to 
anyone who is asking the question of how to write, what to write about, and 
how to create a work that has meaning and will be of interest to the reader.

This book was left in my mailbox one day at the college where I taught. I 
was leaving the day after I received it- on a trip to Europe. I took it 
along and read it on the planes and later in my room. I could not put it 
down.I never knew who gave it to me - but whoever that was, they saved my 
life through this gift of love.  I was to encounter one of the most 
harrowing encounters of my life shortly after that, and the things I learned 
by reading this book brought me through them safely. That is another story!

Lynda Lambert
104 River Road
Ellwood City, PA 16117

724 758 4979

My Blog:  http://www.walkingbyinnervision.blogspot.com
My Website:  http://lyndalambert.com

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Ashley Bramlett" <bookwormahb at earthlink.net>
To: "Writer's Division Mailing List" <stylist at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Thursday, May 10, 2012 7:37 PM
Subject: Re: [stylist] How could I improve this story?

> What is traveling mercies about? Is it about writing or a novel?
>
> -----Original Message----- 
> From: Lynda Lambert
> Sent: Thursday, May 10, 2012 6:59 PM
> To: Writer's Division Mailing List
> Subject: Re: [stylist] How could I improve this story?
>
> I also recommend _Traveling Mercies_ by the same author. She is hilarious 
> in
> the way she tells a story.
>
>
> Lynda Lambert
> 104 River Road
> Ellwood City, PA 16117
>
> 724 758 4979
>
> My Blog:  http://www.walkingbyinnervision.blogspot.com
> My Website:  http://lyndalambert.com
>
>
>
>
>
>
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "Ashley Bramlett" <bookwormahb at earthlink.net>
> To: "Writer's Division Mailing List" <stylist at nfbnet.org>
> Sent: Thursday, May 10, 2012 4:15 PM
> Subject: Re: [stylist] How could I improve this story?
>
>
>> Barbara,
>> Are both books available from NLS? Older books are not on bard, but most 
>> are.
>>
>> -----Original Message----- 
>> From: Barbara Hammel
>> Sent: Monday, April 30, 2012 9:46 PM
>> To: Writer's Division Mailing List
>> Subject: Re: [stylist] How could I improve this story?
>>
>> I downloaded both of the books you suggested.
>> Barbara
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> Poetry is an echo, asking a shadow to dance. -- Carl Sandburg
>> -----Original Message----- 
>> From: Chris Kuell
>> Sent: Monday, April 30, 2012 5:51 PM
>> To: Writer's Division Mailing List
>> Subject: Re: [stylist] How could I improve this story?
>>
>> Barbara,
>>
>> My first suggestion is that you download/request a book called 'Bird by
>> Bird' by Anne Lamott. It's an absolutely wonderful book on writing and 
>> life.
>> The title derives from a story she tells about her brother. One time in
>> school he had to write a report on the birds of North America. He puts it
>> off because he's overwhelmed by the topic. Finally he asks his 
>> father--how
>> can I possibly write a report about the birds of North America? "Bird by
>> bird," his father answers him. "Just take it bird by bird."
>>
>> My second suggestion is that you try to adopt a new attitude. Writing 
>> isn't
>> easy. Sure, penning your thoughts or sketching a few rhymes can be fun 
>> and
>> enjoyable and you don't have to break a sweat. But to be what I'd call a
>> 'great writer' takes hard work, no matter what type of writing you do.
>> Anybody can throw words down on a page, but only a writer can make them 
>> come
>> to life.
>>
>> The work of writing comes in creation, editing, revising, rewriting, and
>> polishing. There isn't a book or essay out there that you thought was 
>> great
>> that wasn't slaved and sweated over by the writer who crafted it.
>>
>> We are actually fortunate these days because writing on a computer is so
>> easy. A hundred or more years ago, writers wrote draft after draft by 
>> hand.
>> They didn't have spell checking or google to double check their work and
>> facts. They couldn't get feedback from half-a-dozen friends across the
>> country within a few hours. I remind you of this to help give you
>> perspective.
>>
>> My third recommendation is that you read over your first chapter, then 
>> think
>> about how you would like to change it. Think about what would make the
>> chapter better, the characters more realistic, what details will bring 
>> the
>> setting to life for the reader. Then sit down with a blank document open 
>> and
>> rewrite it. Don't be afraid of the work. Writing is hard work, but it's 
>> not
>> the coal mines. J.D. Salinger spent 10 years writing and rewriting 
>> 'Catcher
>> in the Rye' over and over again until he got it right.
>>
>> Several years ago I drafted a longish short story, about nine thousand
>> words, which I was pretty proud of. It took me about two weeks of writing
>> every day to finish it. On the first day of the third week I opened the
>> document--and it was gone. To this day I don't know what happened to it. 
>> All
>> I can figure is that I did a select all to adjust formatting, then did
>> something to delete the text (easier to do years ago) then saved the 
>> blank
>> document. Doesn't matter, my story was gone. So I cried, I swore, I broke 
>> a
>> few things. Once I'd accepted that the story was truly gone, I sat down 
>> and
>> wrote it again. This time it turned out to be about six thousand words, 
>> and
>> you know what? It was even better. Firstly, I cut out a lot of the boring
>> stuff, but remembered all the lines I'd written that were really strong.
>> Secondly, in the first writing of the story, I grew to truly know the
>> characters. In the second writing, I did a much better job at bringing 
>> them
>> to life. Now, it still wasn't publishable, and in fact I think I revised 
>> it
>> 5 more times until I had it just right. It was published in 'Bewildering
>> Stories', and later republished in the anthology, 'The Best of 
>> Bewildering
>> Stories'. In all honesty, I probably put more than 150 hours of work into
>> that single story. That's why I say good writing is hard work.
>>
>> Now, the good news is that the more you put work into the craft, the 
>> better
>> you get at it. It still takes a lot of work, rewriting and revising and
>> editing, but you do get better and better at it. You can also see how 
>> your
>> stories or essays improve, which makes the process a little easier.
>>
>> Yes, the tone of your story may change. But honestly, it will probably
>> change for the better. If you want to be a good writer and not just a
>> hobbyist, don't shy away from the work. Reading books on the craft can be
>> very helpful. BARD doesn't have it, but I think web braille or bookshare
>> does, but I highly recommend a book called 'Self Editing for Fiction
>> Writers' by King and Brown. It's an excellent resource that walks you
>> through the entire process of turning that mediocre first draft into
>> something you can feel really good about.
>>
>> Are you up to the challenge?
>>
>> chris
>>
>>
>>
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