Learn Writing with Uncle Jim, Volume 1

euclid said:

I noticed two AWers have won IPPY (Independent Publishers) awards, Maestrowork being one of them.

What are Independent Publishers? Is this self-publishing? Or POD?

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An independent publisher is a commercial publisher that is not owned by a larger company. Victoria blogged about the vanity presses trying to usurp this designation just the other day.

Thanks, it was a false alarm... the fluid was not amniotic. But she is already scheduled for induction tomorrow. Well, they start tomorrow, then Thursday should be delivery day.

I have to disagree on one fact-- I am an idiot--for dropping out of school. My I.Q. is around 128-138 (depending on which test I want to believe), and if I'd applied myself school would have been easy to get through. But I started drinking in ninth grade, and the rest is history. It makes some of this hard; if I'd at least paid attention in English class more I'd be able to pick up alot of this easier. At least, that's my assumption. So I struggle a good deal with stuff sometimes for months before suddenly it will "click." and I'll be like, "Damn... why didn't I get that before?"

That's why the first page game is so good. Uncle Jim shows us what some of the technical stuff that is in place we may not realize. Even something I wouldn't ever be interested enough in to pick up at the bookstore may have aspects that are astonishing when I see a workup of the first page.

I've added characters to books somewhere in the between-first-and-later draft stage.

I did this once to editorial request after submission and acceptance. (Simon here.)

This requires a ground-level full-book rewrite to smooth it all out. If the character isn't fully integrated he/she will need to be cut out again, which rather defeats the purpose.

Given that, Uncle Jim, I will first look into changing an existing character before adding another.

Actually, I read the first 3 pages of Apocalypse Door earlier, and immediately went to Amazon.

Uncle Jim,

Can a large room sit at the end of the hallway? I ask because it seems odd. I hear sit, I see a dog in a sitting position at the end of the leash.

Opinions? Thoughts?

Maybe the hallway could open up, or expand into the large room? Also, sit sounded fine to me when I first read it.

Part of the definition of "sit" is: to occupy a position.

Sit can also be short for "situated", as in a room's position off a hallway.

Thanks guys. It really does help.

A room can sit at the end of a hallway. A house can sit on a hill. A dish can sit on a shelf. A couch can sit against the far wall.

Calliopenjo said:

Uncle Jim,

Can a large room sit at the end of the hallway? I ask because it seems odd. I hear sit, I see a dog in a sitting position at the end of the leash.

Opinions? Thoughts?

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But, couldn't you also say.
The room at the far end of the hallway. The house on the hill. The couch against the wall. Etc.

Why use sit at all?

motormind said:

I rarely "workshop" paragraphs. If I don't like a paragraph or scene, I delete it and rewrite it from scratch. That usually gives faster and better results.

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I have discovered that this same technique works best for me as well. If I try to rewrite something I get caught up in what's already there. If read through the paragraph (or scene) thoroughly and then erase it and start again usually the problems fix themselves. It's quicker and more efficient than spending an inordinate amount of time trying to pinpoint what makes the paragraph fail to begin with.

Ken Schneider said:

But, couldn't you also say.
The room at the far end of the hallway. The house on the hill. The couch against the wall. Etc.

Why use sit at all?

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It's probably the way the writer speaks. Different phrases and terms for different areas of the country/world.

smsarber said:

It's probably the way the writer speaks. Different phrases and terms for different areas of the country/world.

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I hear and see that usage all the time, and to a lesser extent I've used it in writing and normal conversation.

Ken Schneider said:

But, couldn't you also say.
The room at the far end of the hallway. The house on the hill. The couch against the wall. Etc.

Why use sit at all?

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Because sometimes sit is the right word.

Also, consider:

"The house sat on the hill" is a complete sentence. "The house on the hill" isn't a sentence.

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Now, in tonight's episode of Talk Like An English Major, it's Vocabulary Time!

Tonight's word is epiphora. "What's epiphora?" I can hear you ask. Epiphora is the repetition of a word or phrase at the end of two or more clauses. E.g.: "When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child."

Do you need to know the term? Only if the the Final Jeopardy! category is Rhetorical Devices. But even if you don't remember the fancy Greek name, epiphora is a tool for your toolbox.

If the house stood on the hill, or squatted on the hill, or waited on the hill, that would be different too.

Hill House, not sane, stood by itself against its hills, holding darkness within; it had stood so for eighty years and might stand for eighty more.

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-Barbara

I actually knew that word. I feel special

smsarber said:

I actually knew that word. I feel special

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Show off.

You are special.

Good luck to all three of you on Thursday.

Epiphora: Another arrow in our writers quivers! Thanks Jim. Looked familiar, but I had to look it up. Amazing how natural and powerful such repitition can feel. Do you have any fav books filled with tasty writers jargon? I saw Bill Bryson's book in a used bookstore the other day.

Btw, are you going to do any analysis of The Wonderful One-horse Shay? It's a wonder.

James D. Macdonald said:

"When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child."

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As in "When I was born I was only a baby."
Or "I was born at a very early age."

James D. Macdonald said:

Tonight's word is epiphora. "What's epiphora?" I can hear you ask. Epiphora is the repetition of a word or phrase at the end of two or more clauses. E.g.: "When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child."

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*Lightbulb goes on* It's like a pedal tone in music. Where you have one constant note with others dancing around it.

Examples:
Daft Punk - Aerodynamic (starting at 1:02)
Iron Maiden - Paschendale (the intro)
Metallica - Master of Puppets (or most anything from that era)

Sorry if this is over the top, I was just so excited to notice the similarity : D

Yes to the musical equivalent. It creates an easily felt pattern. Off-beat music with unfamiliar meters can leave dancers and listeners feeling lost. I happen to love off-beat, unusual meters in the West African stuff I play.

I've played slaps to the beat and had folks start grooving. However, as Jim says, we may have only a paragraph-long reader first date.

Hey! Another use for talking books. (Barf.)

euclid said:

As in "When I was born I was only a baby."
Or "I was born at a very early age."

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No, not even close. Epiphora requires repeating the exact words.

BTW, the quote was from the Bible (1 Corinthians 13:11).

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Next vocabulary word: anaphora.

Anaphora is repeating words or phrases at the start of clauses.

Thus, Lincoln's "we cannot dedicate—we cannot consecrate—we cannot hallow—this ground" or Churchill's "...we shall not flag or fail. We shall go on to the end, we shall fight in France, we shall fight on the seas and oceans, we shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air, we shall defend our Island, whatever the cost may be, we shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender...."

James D. Macdonald said:

No, not even close. Epiphora requires repeating the exact words.

BTW, the quote was from the Bible (1 Corinthians 13:11).

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(a) I know. I was being funny.
(b) I know. Where else would "spoke" be spelt with an "a"? (joke)

That Churchill speech was something else, wasn't it?