Irish Toasts, Quotes, and Words of Wisdom
It’s the last Wednesday of March. Here’s one last meme with a very thought provoking Gaelic saying. Let me know if you agree.
29
03, 2017
27
03, 2017
Who’s Telling Your Story?
A Guest Blog
Today I’d like to introduce a writer friend, who also happens to be a fabulous teacher and excellent editor—Alicia Rasley. She’s going to offer advice on how writers can decide which character’s POV to use.
All fiction books are written from a particular character’s perspective (POV). As readers, you probably aren’t aware of POV specifics, but we writers can struggle with it. That’s why I invited Alicia to help.
Thanks, Judythe, for inviting me to guest blog!
I know I’m not the only writer kind of obsessed with point of view, so I thought I’d talk about one aspect of POV — which character should narrate a particular scene.
Often this is an easy decision, but if you’re having trouble making the scene as dramatic or deep as you want, consider changing the point-of-view character.
Now there is no RIGHT answer to which character point-of-view to choose for any scene. It will vary depending on many factors, including the author’s own natural POV approach and of course the events of the scene.
But here are a few questions to help guide you in the choice. Each of these questions emphasizes a different approach to the scene. One might lead to a more action-oriented scene. Another might lead to an emotionally dramatic scene.
Let’s use as an example a hanging in some foreign land, a public execution of a man (call him Tom), with his wife there near the gallows (call her Sue). Very dramatic scene!
Whose head should we be in?
POV Choice Questions
Which character is there right now at the scene?
It’s often better to go with the eyewitness rather than the one who just hears about it later– the TV cameraman at the execution, not the anchorman back at the studio.
Which character has the most at stake externally?
The one in physical danger maybe? That would probably be Tom, the condemned man, about to be hanged, of course.
Which character has the most at stake internally?
Sue, who is watching the hanging despairingly from the crowd, knowing that her baby (due in three weeks) will never know its daddy?
Who has the most intriguing perspective, or will narrate the event in the most entertaining way?
Maybe the hangman? Or maybe Sue isn’t so despairing… maybe she’s furious at Tom and will be glad when he’s dead? <G>
Who will change the most because of this event?
Maybe the judge who condemned the man, as the hanging draws closer, comes to regret his vengeful decision, and decides that he’s got to save Tom. The judge might be a good POV character because we can participate in this great change.
Who is going to have to make a big decision or take a great action during this scene?
If Sue is going to storm the gallows, seize a sword, and cut Tom down, she might be the best POV character (then again, I’d love to be in Tom’s head as she comes charging up the steps and aiming that sword towards his neck… <G>).
Whose goal drives the scene?
Maybe Tom has decided to make a great emotional speech and rally the onlookers to riot and save him. He’s the one with the goal– good POV choice.
Whose got a secret and do you want the reader to know?
If Tom is actually an undercover superhero who can burn the noose rope with his x-ray eyes and fly away, but wants first to implicate the judge who condemned him, so he stands there patiently waiting for the hangman… it depends on whether I want the reader to know what he’s planning or his secret powers.
Yes, I want the reader to know, so I put the scene in his POV, and concentrate on how hard he has to work to keep the secret secret.
Or no, I don’t want the reader to know: I want the reader to gradually suspect, along with – or before– Sue and/or the judge, that there’s something a bit off about this guy and the way he keeps aiming his intense gaze up at the rope…. that might mean staying OUT of his POV.
Who is telling all already through dialogue and action?
If Sue is being completely open and upfront about what she’s thinking and how she’s feeling, why bother to go into her head? The judge or Tom might be a better candidate for our “mind-reading” then.
You can see that this is not a checklist– any one of these is sufficient to make a choice, and some are obviously mutually exclusive.
But you can also see how many different ways there are to analyze the choice, and it all boils down to:
What effect do you want to have on the reader in this scene?
And whose POV will best create that effect?
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Bio: Alicia Rasley would rather write about writing than… well, write. Nonetheless, she has written many novels, including a best-selling family saga and a contemporary mystery novel.
She also wrote a handbook on the fictional element of point of view: The Power of Point of View. She teaches writing at a state university and in workshops around the country and online.
Her website has articles and posts about the craft of writing. Sign up for a writing newsletter and get 13 Prime Principles of Plot and other free plotting articles!
24
03, 2017
Chicken Connection
A blog by Chicken Wrangler Sara
I spent the week of Spring Break in Nicaragua. I went to work with Word of Life, Nicaragua. We went into the mountains near Honduras and walked house to house telling people about Jesus. It was quite an experience.
I was nervous about leaving my family (and my chickens.) As is true of all worrying, this was wasted energy. Everywhere we went in Nicaragua there were chickens. In fact, I started taking more pictures of chickens than of people. I had to remind myself why I was there.
The chickens were a part of what I did, though. I was able to talk to the people about their chickens and show them pictures of mine. It gave me a connection the other team members didn’t have. I imagine long after I’m gone, they will remember the Chicken Wrangler who came to tell them about Jesus.
This handsome couple was in a pottery shop in Managua.
Here’s a mother and her chicks in La Camaira.
More chickens in La Camaira including a Frizzle rooster.
20
03, 2017
44 Words That Can Weasel into Writing
Writing’s hard work. Ask any writer. Good writing is harder. Sometimes weasel words can slip in.
Weasel words are “favorite” words that pop up when a writer is being lazy or rushing.
I first heard the term in a workshop with Margie Lawson. She expanded weasel words to include phrases, overused word, throw-away words, clichés and opinion words that might draw a reader from the story.
Her solution is to keep a personal weasel word list for every manuscript and when you do the edits, remove the weasels.
Grammarly created this infographic of frequently overused words to help writers eradicate such words. Margie and I would call it a weasel word list.
Source: www.grammarcheck.net
17
03, 2017
St. Paddy Day Book Sale
Annie Foster remains in Ireland after boarding school to nanny a widower’s infant daughter. Five years later, she accepts the widower’s marriage proposal.
Her first love Chad Jones, whom she believed deserted her, arrives on an undercover assignment weeks before the wedding investigating her fiancé’s connection with terrorists. Chad’s determined to change Annie’s mind and her heart because he’s never stopped loving her.
Annie is torn between the man she’ll always love and the young daughter of her fiancé whom she’s promised never to abandon. Who will claim her heart?
Buy links:
KINDLE: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00O6BO
NOOK: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/claiming-annies-heart-judythe-morgan/1120481337
iBOOKS: https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/claiming-annies-heart/id926024696
KOBO: http://store.kobobooks.com/en-US/ebook/claiming-annie-s-heart
15
03, 2017
Irish Toasts, Quotes, and Words of Wisdom
Picture taken on Croagh Patrick.
13
03, 2017
How to sound Irish on St. Paddy’s Day
****Please note the correction to the blog title. I have been duly notified that I’ve made St. Paddy into a burger. A very special thank you to Donal Walsh for sending me the tweet. I’ll not be making that mistake again. :)
To learn more about the Its Paddy not Patty Irish clamp down, click here. ****
Now back to the original blog…
Everyone claims to be Irish on St. Patrick’s Day. It’s tradition.
Whether you have an ancestorial blood claim or you’re pretending, here are some Irish sayings you might use to impress friends and family.
Should you be challenged, there’s a brief explanation of the origins to help you out.
What’s the craic? Any craic? or How’s the craic?
It’s basically a greeting like we say in the states “How are you?” Sadly, since the spoken word sounds like “crack,” using the phrases can lead to misunderstanding. Be careful!
A typical Irish response would be “divil a bit,” which means “not much.”
Story horse?
A shortened version of “What’s the story, horse?” It’s how you ask someone what’s up. In response, an Irishman is likely to dive deeply into what’s been going on in life with a witty, long-winded tale.
Acting the maggot.
If someone is acting like a fool – messing around, being obnoxious, paying more attention to their phone than you – compare them to the wriggly white worm and they’ll get the message.
Look at the state o’you!
Heard around inner Dublin, it means you question a person’s attire, personal hygiene, intoxication level, or general demeanor. If it’s a drinking companion who is overly inebriated, he’s said to be in a “bleedin’ state” or “wrecked.”
I’m on me tod.
Means you’re on your own, alone at the bar or party, or in general.
The phrase comes from the story of Tod Sloan, an American jockey whose mother died when he was young and his father abandoned him. Tod moved to the U.K. and was ridiculed for his Western riding style which ultimately ended his incredibly successful horse-racing career. After that, Sloan was always said to be “on his own.”
It’s an example of Cockney rhyming slang. The phrase construction involves taking a common word and using a rhyming phrase of two or three words to replace it. “On my Tod Sloan” rhymes with “on my own”; but in Cockney fashion, the word that completes the rhyme (“Sloan”) is omitted.
And lastly, my favorite…
Sláinte!
An Irish toast to use as you clink your glasses of Guinness. Sláinte (pronounced “slaan-sha”) literally translates as “health” and is a shortened version of “I drink to your health!”
8
03, 2017
Irish Toasts, Quotes, and Words of Wisdom
Picture source: snapped along the road in Connemara. We were on our way to Croagh Patrick after a morning at Kylemore Abbey and Gardens.
6
03, 2017
March – A lion or A lamb?
March Comes in like a Lion, goes out like a Lamb.
This proverb has been around since its mention in a 1732 work titled Gnomologia: Adagies and Proverbs; Wise Sentences and Witty Sayings, Ancient and Modern, Foreign and British.
Such weather proverbs and sayings have many origins. This one probably came from observations and a desire for accurate weather predictions.
Historically Old Man Winter reluctantly allows Spring its turn at the climate. That’s because March is a pivotal meteorological month with an unpredictable seasonal pattern. March can arrive as a lamb then turn lion-like in the end making the proverb an unreliable forecasting guide.
While the adage most likely refers to the weather, other sources trace its origins to the stars.If you look to the western horizon this time of year, you can see the constellations of Leo the Lion and Aries the Ram (or lamb).
Leo the Lion rises from the east in early March, meaning the month is coming in “like a lion.” By the end of the month, Leo is almost overhead, while Aries the Ram (lamb) is setting on the western horizon. Hence, the month is going out like a lamb.
Another theory claims the saying is biblical and the animal references symbolic. Jesus’s first appeared as the sacrificial lamb, but returns as the Lion of Judah. Problem with that theory is the lion appears first, which is theologically inaccurate.
Perhaps the best solution to what the saying – March comes in like a lion and goes out like a lamb – means is to take it at face value. March may well start with fierce weather, but it’s always a clear signal spring is on its way.
Here in the mountains, strong winds and snow thunderstorms marked the last day of February. March 1st we awoke to this.
As far as I’m concerned, three degrees and six inches of snow on the ground is definitely lion behavior that validates the saying.
How did your March begin?
Want to know whether you can expect lion or lamb weather in your area? You can find the Farmer’s Almanac long-range weather forecast, here.
3
03, 2017
Miller Farm Color Project Update
A blog by Chicken Wrangler Sara
Rachel’s Bantam Color Project is going quite splendidly. Her latest flock of bantam chicks is very interesting and most were sold almost immediately.
Richard and Isabella
She has a couple of partridge frizzles from Richard and Isabella.
Right now they are in the ugly stage but eventually, they will have feathers that stick out all over like their father.
We plan to keep these two. If she gets more, Rachel has several people who would buy them.
I was having a hard time remembering the names of the breeds and colors of bantams so Rachel labeled the runs for me.
She even laminated the labels so they will hold up in the rain. We found out this week that the light from the neighbor’s house reflects off the label and looks like there is a fire. That was an interesting discovery.
It may seem like a lot of trouble for chickens but it is really fun to see the different chicks when they hatch.
Right now Rachel has duck eggs in the incubator. We cannot keep the ducks. She just wants to see what it is like to hatch them. We already have a new home for them. I just have to keep from getting too attached.