Writing 101: So is it Burned, or Burnt?

I'm convinced that irregular verbs exist only to annoy writers. They always show up at the most inopportune times, right when you're in the zone and your fingers are flying. One moment, your creativity is pouring out of you. The next, you're staring at the word burned and wondering if it ought to be burnt instead.

Verbs, Adjectives, Words That Don't Make Sense

The verb to burn is irregular. It has two past tenses: burned, and burnt. When something is burned, it's been scorched by heat and/or flame. Your skin may get burned by the sun or even hot water.  Burned is easy to use, because it's an example of classic past tense. Just add ed to burn, and you're ready to go.

You could always add a t instead. Then, the word becomes burnt. When something is burnt, it's been scorched by heat and/or flame. Your skin may get burnt by the sun or even hot water.

No need to check that twice. Burned and burnt mean exactly the same thing, and they are often used interchangeably. Burned is a bit more common in North American writing, while burnt appears a bit more frequently on the other side of the pond. Burnt can also be used as an adjective, for example: 

"What color is that?"

"Burnt orange." 

It sounds a little more cumbersome to say burned orange, so burnt is more commonly used. But when you're using verbs, burned or burnt will do just as well.

Writing 101: The Merits of Simple English

Listen, I can get as flowery as the next guy. I'll wax poetic about the sky if you want me to, and I'll bet I could come up with some adjectives you've never even imagined before. But really, what's the point? The most beloved books aren't necessarily the most thrilling, the most frightening or the funniest stories ever written...but they are easy to read. Want to be a writer? You need to understand the merits of simple English. 

Verbosity

He strolled forward with the night wind on his shoulder, propelled by a steady tread that squeaked just so with each new stride. The dead foliage on the trees made crackling sounds, shivering with the frigid mistral that came sweeping down the mountain. The refuse storage loomed in front of him like a spectre, a hungry maw waiting to swallow his offering whole.

Do you know what I was describing with the above? I'm talking about a guy taking out the trash on a chilly fall evening. If you didn't get that right away, it's because the above is an example of over-done writing. Every single sentence doesn't need to be an event -- and frankly, shouldn't be. One of the merits of using simple English is that it's easy to understand. I shouldn't have to second-guess every word and read every paragraph twice over just to know what the heck is going on. 

Make me do all of that as a reader, and I'm just going to end up getting exhausted. Flowery language is nice, sometimes, but being inundated with it through page after page is tiresome. It's okay to simply say what you mean. You can still be wonderfully descriptive without using all the lesser-known adjectives in the thesaurus. Let's take the example above and strip it down to simple English: 

He could feel the cold night air on his shoulders as he walked in his squeaking shoes. A cold wind from the mountain made the dead leaves on the trees rustle, creating crackling noises overhead. The garbage area seemed to come from nowhere, casting shadows over him as it stood ready to receive his trash bags.

Easier to read, right? Totally understandable, and yet still descriptive? These are the merits of simple English. Use plain, everyday language to get your point across, because plain, everyday language is what most readers understand. Don't ever make it difficult to read your book. Simplify, and make it easy instead.

Writing 101: Starting Fresh

Writers pour their very souls onto the page. They sweat, they bleed, they cry, they laugh right out loud...they scare their family members, frankly. When you put all of that into your work, it's hard to take that work and destroy it. But sometimes, that's just what you've got to do. Starting fresh is scary, but sometimes that's the only option.

Starting Fresh

It's a New Year, and everyone's thinking about fresh starts. You know who doesn't like starting over from scratch? Writers. Nothing is more horrifying than a blank page. It sits there, and it stares at you...and it knows exactly where you are weakest. 

Erasing text is even more horrifying. Many writers will attempt to endlessly edit their past book projects, no matter how error-stuffed or poorly-written. A good idea is a good idea, and bad writing can always be fixed...right? 

No. Sometimes, starting fresh is your only option -- and incidentally, today is the perfect day to make that leap of faith in yourself.  

How to Do It

Lots of writers start out young. Personally, I began with short stories and poetry. Most of it is unreadable. But some of those early ideas are still good, even if I didn't have the skills to properly execute them back then. It's not at all unusual for a writer to grimace and groan when they go back and re-read something they wrote years ago. It's also not unusual for that same writer to look for ways to make it useable again. 

Sometimes, no amount of editing is going to help. If a story is good, and your characters are good and the idea is something you want to pursue, there's one thing you have to do first: erase. Get rid of all that bad text that's cramping your style. Editing isn't always the right answer if something's really out-of-whack. Just get rid of it, keep the ideas that were good to begin with, and start fresh with that blank page.

It's scary, but in a way it's also wonderful. It's a New Year, a new page, and anything is possible.

Judging Judgment

"This book was perfect...The writing lovingly holds your hand and leads you through the story."

"It was brilliant. I wish there was a better word to describe it, but there really isn't."

Ariel Avalon has reviewed Judgment (Deck of Lies #4) at her blog. There are some spoilers, so feel free to read the whole review if you've already read the first three books in the series. 

If you haven't, get the boxed set edition of the Deck of Lies, and get caught up on the entire series.

Writing Resolutions for the New Year

People use New Year's Eve as a time to look back and reflect on mistakes they've made, to think about what they want to change...to get drunk on life (and other substances). While you're making out your resolution list this year, include a few that will help you become a better writer. Maybe 2013 is the year of your bestseller. 

Writing Resolutions

What should you resolve to do as a writer? Make up your list, stick to it, and your writing will improve as a result: 

• Show what you mean. Don't tell me that Stacey walked downstairs to the front porch. Take me on the journey. Maybe the stairs creak when I walk down them, and the floor below is cold on my bare feet. Is it cold on the front porch, or warm and sunny? Always write descriptively in the upcoming year, and write better.
• Write real dialogue. Make your dialogue sound true to life. Read it out loud, and ask yourself if this is how people really talk.
• Read and re-read. Edit, edit, edit. Many readers shun indie authors because they think our books are poorly edited. Let's prove them wrong in the upcoming year. Read and re-read your book until it's letter-perfect.
• Research. Make your books richer with good research. Describe your settings and venues more fully by getting to know something about them first. Readers want to taste the food, see the beach, watch the play -- so do your research, and make your writing even more readable. 
• Think about your characters. All of your characters should feel like real people, not just the main character. Think about what they look like and who they are, how they spend their time and what drives them. In your characters' minds, they aren't supporting cast members. Everyone is the main character in their own life story. 
• Get serious. Keep yourself more organized, and treat your writing more like a business in the New Year. Remember that you are a brand, and you've got to market your brand accordingly. 

Resolve to be a better writer, and get serious about your craft in 2013...after the party is over, of course.

Books on Film: Mildred Pierce

If you've never thought about what it's like to be a single mother during the Great Depression, you've never read Mildred Pierce. It's a dramatic novel, stuffed with plot, completely revolving around one woman who's just trying to raise her two girls. There are two film versions of the story, both featuring very well-known actresses. But if you watch them both, you're going to think you're watching two totally different stories.

The Book

Mildred Pierce, written by James M. Cain in 1941, is set in the 1930s in southern California, and it opens in the respectable suburb of Glendale. This is where Mildred lives with her husband Bert and their two daughters. The youngest is Moire, or Ray, the eldest Veda.

Bert doesn't have a job. And to add insult to injury, he's cheating on Mildred. She knows it, and one afternoon summons up the gumption to kick him to the curb. It's in this fashion that Mildred finds herself practically penniless, with no husband and two daughters to support. For any woman, this is a pretty big problem. For a woman in the 1930s during the Great Depression...well, Mildred's really in for trouble now.

The book delves deeply into her life, and into the societal norms that make up the fabric of our existence. Bert was born into a higher social station than Mildred, a somewhat affluent family, and because of this she always feels a little outclassed by him. She certainly feels outclassed by Veda, who even at a young age exhibits a great deal of snobbery and disdain toward anyone who must work for a living. Bert is too fine for work, and Veda worships him for that.

Mildred secretly begins working as a waitress in a diner after coming to the realization that she really isn't skilled for anything else, and must earn an income. When Veda ultimately discovers what Mildred's doing for work, the mother parlays her restaurant experience into a business of her own. She opens up her own little place with the help of her husband's former business partner Wally, and even meets an intriguing new love interest in the form of Monte Beragon. He's a captivating and charming ne'er-do-well who, despite all his polish, is every bit as shiftless and lazy as Bert. Eventually Mildred catches on that Monte neither loves nor respects her, and she walks out of his life.

Ray dies tragically, and Mildred is secretly glad that Veda remains alive and healthy. Alive and healthy...and rather demanding. Mildred opens up two more restaurants so she may buy Veda clothes and music lessons, and everything else that Veda needs, even down to a fancy piano for their Glendale home. 

It's never enough for Veda, who continues to despise Mildred for being a working woman. Veda fakes a pregnancy in order to blackmail a wealthy family, and it's too much for Mildred to bear. She screams at Veda to leave, and to her horror Veda actually does. Mildred spends months mourning her and attempting to make contact, but Veda shuns her at every turn.

Into this empty space, Monte re-appears. Mildred falls right back into a steamy love affair with him, and ends up purchasing his family estate. It's all really an attempt to bring Veda back into her life. In just a few months, Veda Pierce has gained quite a bit of local fame as an opera singer. It works out just as Mildred had hoped. She marries Monte, and Veda moves into the sprawling estate with the pair of them. 

She's paying for everything again, but this time around Monte and Veda are even more expensive. Veda needs costumes and clothing and cosmetics for her performances, and Monte needs all his fine trappings and little luxuries to stay happy. Wally, still her partner in the restaurant game, notices that the profits of the business have sharply declined. He confronts Mildred, and threatens to take over the business. 

Mildred goes to the one person who can help her in these dire circumstances: Bert, who has remained a big part of her life. She confesses that she's been taking company money to pay for Veda. Together, the two manage to work themselves into a frenzy of fear that Wally will somehow find a way to get at Veda's money. She does earn money for her performances -- but Mildred has still been paying for her just the same. 

At Bert's insistence, Mildred goes to the estate to talk to Veda and find a way to protect her daughter's assets. Failing to find her daughter, she seeks out Monte to elicit his help in locating Veda. It's in this fashion that Mildred finds them both...unclothed, and in bed together.

While Monte rages in the background, Veda calmly gloats. She prances about, wearing nothing more than a self-satisfied grin, and Mildred snaps at last. She launches herself at Veda and begins to strangle her, not relenting until Monte finally rips her away. Veda dramatically stumbles away, coughing and choking, and demonstrably has lost her singing voice as a result of the attack. 

Because of this, she loses her contract with the local opera house. Weeks pass as Mildred locates to Reno, where she must go in order to obtain a divorce from Monte. Bert joins her there. Mildred is forced to let go of her business, and remarries Bert once her divorce is final. They move together back into the Glendale home they once shared with two daughters.

Veda visits, and Mildred learns that she faked her apparent throat injury in order to get fired from her contract. She is now free to accept a more lucrative offer in New York, where Monte is already waiting for her. Bert puts his arm around Mildred, and the two agree to say to hell with Veda and get drunk together.

It's a deeply evocative tale, filled with titillating love scenes and intense emotions. Mildred is a hard heroine to like. She's tough to the bone, self-reliant and cool-headed. But she's a mess when it comes to her relationships. She's drawn toward men who are layabouts with little respect for her, and compelled to constantly attempt to win the love of Veda, who is incapable of loving anyone but herself. Mildred proves that she wants love and acceptance even more than financial security, no matter how hard-fought that particular battle, and ends up becoming dependent upon someone else because of it. But by the same token, Mildred does finally get the love and acceptance she so craved...even if it didn't come from the person she'd hoped would give it to her.

It's a great story on paper, but the film version of Mildred Pierce took several stunningly bizarre turns before it was finally turned out as a masterpiece. 

The Film

The book was adapted for the big screen in 1945, with the gorgeous Joan Crawford in the title role. At this time, the infamous movie code was very much alive and well. Because of the code, most of the events occurring at the end of the book couldn't even be filmed. No way could filmmakers show the incestuous love affair between Veda and Monty, nor could they film Joan Crawford physically striking her onscreen daughter.

And because these things couldn't be a part of the film, the film had to have a completely different ending. Mildred Pierce instead became a strange film noir, a murder mystery in which Monte died by Veda's hand. In this version of the story, he had rejected her increasing sexual advances. In a fit of rage, Veda lashes out and kills him. Mildred is compelled to take the fall for her much-beloved daughter, but at the end eventually turns her over to the authorities.

It won Joan Crawford an Oscar, but it didn't win the hearts of too many book fans. This adaptation plays out like a wholly different story. Veda is much less monstrous and Mildred is much less weak. Some characters are dropped completely, and the timeline is compressed. It strikes a completely different tone and takes viewers to a far different place than the book. 

That's why it was remade by HBO in 2011. This time around, Mildred Pierce became a dazzling, high-budget miniseries encompassing hours and hours of viewing pleasure. With Kate Winslet in the title role and Evan Rachel Wood (eventually) playing Veda, this adaptation becomes a slick and beautiful retelling of the original.

It's an incredibly faithful adaptation, which is why it's so very long. The book is a thick piece, and the miniseries certainly does it justice. Much of the dialogue is taken directly from the book, and the bulk of scenes on the page are recreated in whole onscreen. It's a very good (if quite long) adaptation, and one you shouldn't miss. Watch Joan Crawford and Kate Winslet both take a turn as Mildred Pierce, and see which version of the novel you like better. 

Writing 101: Stepping Outside Your Genre

Self-published authors have to work hard to build up a fan base and to establish themselves as "real" authors in the eyes of their readers. That's why stepping outside your genre and writing something completely different can be pretty tricky and scary business. What if you go out on a limb...and lose all of your fans? 

Outside the Box

After putting all that time and effort into building up a fan base, stepping outside that comfort zone with a totally different book is a brave thing to do (some might say foolish). While some of your fans may stay true, others may be turned off because they aren't fans of that particular genre. That means you've got to start all over again, and start targeting fans in your new genre to find the readers that will be interested in this new book of yours.

It's a lot of work, but it's not all that different from all the marketing you've already done. You should re-focus your efforts with every new book you release, whether it's in the same genre as your others or an altogether different one. Stepping outside your genre actually gives you a unique opportunity to gain an even bigger fan following, and reach out to readers you mightn't find otherwise. 

Don't ever be afraid to make a change. One of the joys of self-publishing is that you get to do whatever you want, write whatever interests you, and let your own skills as an author develop and grow in any way you like. You don't have to answer to anyone, uphold contracts or write sequels you aren't really feeling. If you have to do some extra marketing to get more readers, that's just something that comes with the job.

Writing 101: Profanity

Lots of people swear. Sometimes alcohol plays a part, other times it may be sports. Around my house, you're sure you hear it if any cable news station is on the television. Profanity creeps into daily life, like it or not, and that's why it also appears in books. How do you write it into yours, and should you warn your readers when you do? 

Censorship and Warning Labels

In the American culture, profanity is still profane. Certain words are regulated, and surrounded by rules. You can only hear certain swear words on certain cable channels, while others are offered up regularly across all networks. You'll find profanity filters on forums and online video games, and you're sure to see at least one offended face if you cry out one of these "off-limits" words in a church. When certain words are considered to be taboo, writers have to tread very lightly indeed. 

When is it okay to use profanity in your books? That depends entirely upon the genre. It's pretty much never okay to use a swear word in children's books -- even getting away with hell is pretty tough business. In YA a certain amount of swearing is tolerated and it's even to be expected, because teens often use profanity to express themselves (it's due in part to a lack of vocabulary and part to general teen rebellion). But in the YA world, you have to be careful about which swear words you use. 

Swear words aren't just swear words...they exist in a hierarchy. Hell and damn are considered to be among the most mild of profanities, and they're even accepted on daytime TV. Shit is a little stickier (pun intended), and may be heard only after a certain hour on some cable stations. The "mother" of all swear words, known as "the f-word" is only featured on premium cable stations (and sometimes on Comedy Central when they're feeling frisky). The really racy words are probably best left out of YA, because they may irritate some parents. Since it's probably parents who are doing the bulk of household book-buying, it pays for authors not to offend them. However, gaining a reputation for writing a YA novel that parents hate because it's too obscene is sure to increase teen readership, so it's a bit of a win-in.

It doesn't work that way in other genres. If you're writing anything that's specifically geared toward a religious or spiritual audience, don't use profanity in any capacity. That's bound to anger some percentage of your target audience, so just avoid it entirely. It you're writing a light-hearted mystery or romance, seeing an "f-bomb" might be jarring to readers in that genre (who aren't often exposed to such in the mass-produced paperbacks of those genres). A gritty crime novel, horror novel or dramatic novel is expected to have a bit of a harder edge, so profanity may naturally come with the territory (and readers will be prepared for that). Sci-fi and fantasy works, which are often written to be read by people of all ages, don't often have a lot of profanity in them.

But at the end of the day, each author has to make their own choice when it comes to adding profanity. If it suits a certain character, you may feel that you've got to include it. Always stay true to your own instincts as an author where profanity is concerned, because you'll usually be right. If you're nervous about it, try running your book past a beta reader or two and see if they make any comments about your use of swear words. That will help you gauge how your intended audience might react.