Ever Been in a Freeze?
Did anyone or anything cause you to just stop and be still? Say nothing, do nothing? Remain motionless until your eyes twitch and your extended finger is ready to drop off?
In the photo above the ‘Pick-a-Little’ ladies are part of a stopped moment in time. (I am second from the left at this Music Man rehearsal this past fall.) We had to remember to adopt a stance, a look, a pose and hold it until the up tempo in the music.
Well, first of all we didn’t know what to do. Then when Janet got the idea to frown, we all did. Next we realized we needed to be individual in our look. I picked kind of a bossy, know-it-all stance, Lisa chose finger-pointing, and the others chose their separate looks, too. When we put on our elaborate costumes, 1912 era hats and all, we were the essence of gossipy ladies doing the pick a little, talk a little thing.
A group of the ladies in costume.
This is a little like my journey as a writer. First, I didn’t know what to do so I bought a book. Well, about thirty books, so far. My writing took on dozens of looks as I tried out the suggestions I found in each book.
My epiphany was ongoing, but the day I finally realized I had to be me in my writing, my show went a lot better. Oh, I had learned many clever and useful tidbits and some huge meaty pieces along the way, but my writing has settled into my very own style.
Books that help with all of this abound, but some of my favorites are found in this post and in this earlier one. Read the annotated lists and crack open whatever appeals to you.
Consider leaving comments below with book titles you’ve found that will help writers move past the freeze.
Terry Fallis’ third novel.
A look at the cover quotations on Up and Down by Leacock Medal winner, Terry Fallis, will give the reader a good idea of just how far this author has traveled since he first self-published The Best Laid Plans and, on a whim, submitted it for the Leacock contest. Members of Parliament and highly regarded authors and newspaper people line up praising all three of Fallis’ books, but I like MP Marc Garneau’s comment best– “A rollicking good ride.” Seems fitting for Canada’s first astronaut.
Marketer David Stewart is charged with running a contest to find a Canadian to go up on the next NASA trip into space. The choosing of this Canadian person, and the American civilian, gives rise to plot twists and another lovable, admirable character. Fallis takes the good, the bad, and the ugly and manages to make the good great, the bad go away, and the ugly metamorphose, all the while eliciting enough chuckles and guffaws to push the readers’ quiet Canadian stereotype to the back of the bus. And maybe out the emergency door!
Once again Fallis deftly weaves plot lines to make an engaging story. Read the rest of this entry »
