Languages and Writing by Bonnie Le Hamilton

In order to communicate, we first have to know the language being used and with the number of those in world, it isn’t always easy.

I’m reminded of an incident years ago with my husband. He was watching his World War II movie “The Dirty Dozen” and at one point he remembered that I had taken one year of French in college, so he turned to me and asked me what the staff at the hotel were saying in those final scenes. I told him I only remembered a little bit, but that I’d try, so he backed the video up just a little and I started translating, what I could of it, because some of what they said was so garbled I couldn’t pick out any words, then one lady said two very clear and distinct words. I turned to Tom and said, “I’m not translating that.”

“Why? Because you don’t know it?”

“No. Because she just took the Lord’s name in vain.”

“Oh.”

The translation was, “My blank!” Fill in that word yourself.

Another time we were watching “Father Goose” which has three characters who speak French, two of those don’t speak any English. And of course, Tom asked me to translate; half the time I didn’t get what they said because they said it too fast. Though the funniest scene is when Leslie Caron’s character takes down a message for Cary Grant’s character in French, so of course, Grant (i.e. Father Goose) asks her to translate, which she does, but she is intentionally stalling for time, so she asks him how to say parachute in English. Makes me laugh every time.

Language is important. It helps get across ideas and information to other people. Language is the building block of writing. But what do you do when what you’re writing is in a language other than your native tongue?

I occasionally use a bit of French in my writing, not a string of words, and nothing that needs translated, just a word here or there that is actually commonly used in America. The one I use most often is fiancée, but hey, I mostly write romance. I’ve also used touché a time or two and even en masse. That’s easy; I know the words, and they are well known; I don’t have to translate them. Then again, French does exist. It is a real language.

This last week Konnie and I have been dealing with languages that don’t exist except in our sci-fi worlds. For me, my hero speaks the heroine’s native tongue quite well, but the heroine doesn’t speak his native tongue all that well, and I have both of them switching back and forth between the languages to communicate. Only, there isn’t two languages, just the names of those languages, and a few made up words.

With Konnie, there are a lot more languages, and some social rules about when you can use which one. She has characters switching what tongue they are speaking probably more than I have mine switching. And she was complaining the other day about how hard it was. I couldn’t help but point out she was one that made up the rules.

And we’ve both made up some words. After all we need the name of the language in order to tell the reader what language they are using. But I’ve made up a few words which are in my heroine’s native tongue. And I’m talking about words other than the ones I made up for devices and such in my made-up world.

I’ve another story where I confined certain words to a specific meaning. The most notable was the word join. In that novel join only refers to intimate relations (including a simple kiss) between and a male and a female. The people in my story don’t use that word to mean anything else. Which made for fun scene when my heroine, who isn’t one of that group, uses join, and she wasn’t talking about intimate relations.

It really got the hero’s heartrate going. 😊

But all this brings up the question what is the best way to deal with foreign languages in a story?

And what is the best way to deal with made up languages in a story?

Do you ever make up words? Or do you ever make up rules for the society in your story about the use of certain words, or like the Konnie did, the use of language?

Happy writing everyone! 😊

Of Technology and Other Issues by Konnie Enos

 At the church the other day the teacher in our Sunday class was having some technical issues with the equipment she was trying to use as part of her lesson. For several minutes the lesson stalled and at least one class member left the room looking for someone who was elsewhere in the building to solve the problem.

Several of the women in the room (it was a woman’s meeting) made comments about getting one of the younger children to help.

I turned to the older woman beside me a told her that when I have issues with my technology (which isn’t often) I call my youngest son. I also admitted I obtained my first internet ready computer while I was pregnant with my older son. Both my boys have grown up with technology and at least my youngest daughter doesn’t remember much before surfing the web was a common everyday thing.

On the other hand, I think I was in high school the first time I saw a computer and that wasn’t to use it myself. The secretary at the school I was attending was using it.

My first computer class was when I was in college.

Today, I have my own laptop and use it every day.

So I sat in this class thinking more about how much things have changed over the last twenty years. The last forty. Then I did about the lesson.

Just think about the changes you’ve seen in just the last twenty years.

Internet ready and capable devices and World Wide Web being one of the biggest changes. Now the idea of not only flying cars, but self-driving cars isn’t so farfetched.

This technology can be a blessing and a distraction.

As a writer, I appreciate the fact I can now type a full page without having to use whiteout or eventually rip the paper out of the typewriter and start over. It’s also helpful that the program can, sometimes, help me properly spell words, something I often have difficulty with. And if I can’t find the word I want sometimes I can get the program to help me find a similar word that would work just as well.

It also helps me get things done, like managing the family’s finances.

The downside of technology is it’s a major distraction.

I fought even having a video game system in my house for years for this reason. (Yes, I am very anti-video games. Long story.)

People get lost surfing the web or on Facebook every day.

Me?

I spent the last couple of days doing little else but reading, though my files.

This is why my post is not only late, but sort.

I was distracted, by my writing.

Smile. Make the day a brighter day.

Weather and Natural Disasters by Bonnie Le Hamilton

Life isn’t always sunshine and roses, and we shouldn’t have our stories be that way. The weather can sometimes wreak havoc on our lives and we should be doing the same to our characters. “A Very Special Delivery” by Linda Goodnight starts with an ice storm bringing the hero and heroine together. And I recall a story I read years ago that started out with guy driving home in a huge thunderstorm and spotting a little girl on the roadside in the glow of his headlights, leading him to finding the little girl’s mother in their wrecked car. “The Lawman’s Honor” by Linda Goodnight also starts with an accident in a thunderstorm, though in that one, it’s the heroine rescuing the hero, which I think is a nice change from the man always doing the rescuing.

I’m not talking about starting your story out with, “It was a dark and stormy night,” for one thing, that is telling. In the “The Lawman’s Honor” I know its stormy by the fact that both the hero and the heroine in their separate vehicles are keeping an eye threatening conditions outside their car, and by the fact their windshield wipers are having a hard time keeping up with the deluge. No telling needed, I can visual the storm and that winding mountain road.

Anyway, weather can, and should play a part in our stories, and not just weather, but natural disasters. I know there are stories that start with avalanches, earthquakes, tornados, and blizzards. I’m sure there might also be some that start with a hurricane or a Nor’easter.

Those stories are about the disaster, about how it affects the character’s lives, but it is possible to write a story where the storm or the disaster is just something that happened to bring two people together. I’m talking something that happened, then the story moves on past that. It is over, but the story isn’t.

Though I guess if you have an earthquake, or a volcano erupting, or an avalanche, you need more time to get past those things. (Every volcano story I’ve ever seen was all about getting away from, surviving, the devastation.) And I guess that works for action/adventure or disaster type stories, I just don’t write them.

When I write, I try to consider what time of year it is, and what the weather might be like, because for one thing, the weather would play a role in whether or not they need a coat, or an umbrella. The weather plays a role in whether or not they run from their car to the house or not. It can’t always be sunny and warm that wouldn’t be realistic.

Weather plays a role in what we do each day, it should also play a role in your stories.

In my stories, the weather helps set the time of year that it takes place. In one I have, the bees are buzzing and flowers are in bloom, in others I guess I’m not as clear on the time of year. And I’ve read some where they make me feel like the characters never even experience rain, its always sunny, and they don’t even need jackets, let alone coats.

Maybe that’s just where its set, and the time of year. I know at least a few of those are set in like California or Florida, so they are forgiven, mostly, but I do have one which starts out in California, but its during the rainy season, and involves a series of mudslides. You can’t tell me that wouldn’t happen, because I started writing that one the year there was a ton of mudslides all over the state in California.

And let’s face it, there are other natural disasters. Florida is having problems with sinkholes. Who has sinkholes in their story? 

California is known for their earthquakes. Who has earthquakes (even if its only a minor tremor) in their stories? And California isn’t the only one with earthquakes, back East they don’t occur very often but out here, they happen, a lot.

I keep telling myself I should write an earthquake scene were at least one character isn’t used to earthquakes (only knows about them from disaster movies on TV) and panics at the first tremor thinking everyone there with her is going to die.

Its easy for me to visualize, I’ve seen it. It happened to me in college. We weren’t that close to the epicenter (it was within this state, but a couple hour’s drive away), and while the house was shaking quite a bit, nothing was falling down.

Anyway, we need to consider the weather as we write our stories. Into every life a little rain must fall.

Happy writing everyone! 😊

Graduation Milestones by Konnie Enos

One of the last times I spoke with my sister we talked about all the people we knew who were graduating from high school soon, namely my son, but she also mentioned a special event for one of her nephews (on her husband’s side of the family). We hadn’t discussed these events before this conversation but I mentioned that my daughter and her husband, who live in Oregon, were arriving that weekend (this past one) to participate in my son’s graduation. She revealed her nephew's event was the same weekend.

As we discussed these events Bonnie realized that if she had a car available to her she could have driven down and made both events.

When I spoke with my daughter she told me her best friend, who now lives in Utah would be in Las Vegas at the same time because she was coming down for her sister’s high school graduation.

From what my daughter was told, her friend’s family would be arriving for her sister’s graduation as we were leaving from our son’s at the same auditorium where apparently all the local high school graduations are usually held around here on UNLV campus.

Now going to my son’s graduation I was remembering my own ceremony and considering how much time it took. If I am remembering correctly, my graduating class was under 500 students. Way larger than the small high school I’d attended in Idaho before we moved to Tacoma, Washington area but apparently not huge.

First of all, the floor of the auditorium and two sections of chairs set up, covering the area. I think about forty rows, with about ten seats in each section of each row.  So roughly enough seating for 800 graduates!

I have no idea if any of the schools in this area needed all those seats, but my son’s school filled a lot more of them than I expected.

As they started the processional the audience stood for them to walk in. About ten minutes later I finally gave up and sat down while they were still walking in. It took them nearly twenty minutes just to walk everyone in. Then we still had to stand for the posting of the colors, pledge and singing of the national anthem. The graduates had to have been on their feet in our view for at least half an hour and that doesn’t count the time they were on their feet lining up and waiting to walk into the auditorium.

What surprised me was the number of graduates.

The largest graduating class this school has ever had, 580 students.

Then I looked at all those empty seats on the floor and I wondered what schools in this area were bigger, requiring that many more seats?

My daughter kept telling me that graduations in this area only last about an hour, per her best friend. A young lady who was raised here and has been to other graduations in the area.

I told her no way was this going to last only an hour with how long it took for them to just walk in. I was thinking it was going to be at least a couple of hours if they did the traditional valedictorian/salutatorian speeches plus addresses from various school officials and the distribution of the diplomas. Yeah, it wasn’t going to a simple one hour event.

And the program details were an entire page long, leading me to believe we’d be there for a lot longer than the time we had since we did know the next group had to be in there in just a couple of hours.

Then the programed started, and seriously some of the parts were less than a minute. Others, even the traditional speeches were short, under three minutes. Not even the principal talked for longer than that. I think the longest talk was by the school superintendent. I think she about hit the five minute mark.

And to handle handing out those nearly six hundred diplomas as quickly as possible?  

They did it double. Passing them out from both sides of the stage at the same time.

We were still leaving after the next group was already arriving so there was a huge crowd outside when we left the building but we were done a lot faster than the three hours I thought it would take when I saw all those students and that program.

All things considered, I’d say these people are well versed on getting through a lot of graduation ceremonies as quickly and efficiently as possible.

Congratulations to all our graduates!

Now we have next May’s graduation season to look forward to. My youngest son finishes high school and my youngest daughter will earn her associates degree (she is already planning on furthering her education).

Smile. Make the day a brighter day.

Good Advice About Writing by Bonnie Le Hamilton

Sometimes when we don’t manage to write on any given day its because something came up. This happens to Konnie more than with me, but it does happen. None of us live on this planet alone. Life happens.

But sometimes we make the mistake of letting life happen, of letting life in the get the way. There could be lots of reasons, and I’m no expert on them since my biggest issue on not getting any writing done is my ADD, but I’ve witnessed a few things from my friends.

1.   They can’t seem to say no. They always have somewhere else to be or something else to do. They are constantly busy doing that something else.

This is a huge mistake. If you want to be a writer commit to it. Don’t let other activities get in your way. Learn how to prioritize. And yes, I know that isn’t easy, but if you want to make something of your writing you have to do it.

2.   They haven’t trained their family and friends to understand that this is important. Of course, that goes back to number one, you need to set aside time to write and make sure your family and friends know when that is.

So, if this is your problem, learn to say no. Learn to say, “I’m busy. Can that wait?” I once knew an author who spent her childrearing years writing non-fiction for hire and she had a passel full of kids while she worked from home but her list of published works is quite long.

How did she manage that?

Easy. She set a writing time and ENFORCED that time. She told me that she kept a damp cloth by her desk and if any member of her family came near her and interrupted her while she was writing, she grabbed the cloth and washed their face. Her kids learned quickly not to disturb her while she was writing.

The trick to this isn’t that cloth, but the fact that she didn’t back down, she didn’t relent. She told me they had to be bleeding or dying for it to be okay for them to interrupt her during her set writing time.

And that brings me to the third reason people have trouble writing.

3.   They don’t set a time to write.

You need to set a time when you are supposed to be writing. Let all your family and friend know this is your writing time, and don’t let them draw you away unless it’s a life or death situation.

(This also aids in the allowing the Muse to find you at an opportune time.) 😊

It doesn’t matter when or where you write, as long as you have a routine to write.

Now to solve that staring at the blank screen moment. That one’s harder, but there are some things that can help, and have helped me.

1.   If you are stuck on a project, move to another one, sooner or later the answer to your problem will come to you when you least expect it. It has for me.

2.   Try to relax. Fear and anxiety can be powerful roadblocks to the muse. Setting up a routine for writing will help with this, if you are used to writing at a certain time and a certain place, you will be comfortable and able to write when you are in that time and place. (And, of course, the muse will have an easier time finding you.)

3.   Remember that writing everyday isn’t limited to your WIP. Writing in journal is still writing. Writing to a friend or family member is still writing. Count those and put your mind at ease.

4.   When all else fails, pull out a kitchen timer and set it for ten minutes then stare at that screen or that blank sheet of paper telling yourself to write something. I have one such “stream of thought” where I started out writing that I didn’t know what to write and I was drawing a blank on any story, repeatedly, but by the time the ten minutes were up I’d started a scene to whole new a story!

I don’t know of a more powerful way to get someone writing again then by starting something new, because let’s face it, that blank screen moment could be the result fear, or the story isn’t working (been there done that), or you are just tired of that story right now. Sometimes you just need a break, not necessarily from writing, but from writing that story. And it’s okay to put something on the back burner for a while, start something new.

And Happy Writing Everyone! 😊

Meditation and Writing by Konnie Enos

In a recent conversation with my oldest son brought up the subject of meditating because one of his teachers made them do yoga as a means of de-stressing them.

He said he didn’t understand why mostly because part of the time she had them listening to a recording of a lady talking them through a meditation, noting that he didn’t even listen to it. Then he said, “I can never empty my mind completely because when I try story ideas start popping in.” He blamed this on ADHD.

I’m sure, from what Bonnie has told me, she’d concur with him. Based solely on the number of partially finished stories she has I’d say she is constantly bouncing from one story to the next. I’ve seen her work on at least two different stories at once to the point of putting the wrong heroines name in one manuscript because she’d been thinking about the other one.

She blames this on ADD.

I blame it on being a writer.

Why?

Because I don’t have ADHD or ADD.

My mind is always going and if it doesn’t have to concentrate on the task at hand it will be either creating new stories or working out the details in the one I’m currently writing. Even in my sleep I’m working on stories. Ask any writer and they’ll tell you of a story they got from a really good dream.

Unlike my sister, I don’t generally work on more than one story at a time. Although I do have several right now that I need to finish and or edit. I’m not usually writing in one and thinking of what happens in another. Unless of course, like a couple of my books, they have the same characters in both books.

My point is writers think differently.

A writer’s mind is always full of ideas and more come all the time.

I doubt it is possible to empty a writer’s mind completely because their characters will see the empty stage and come out to play. If you have multiple stories they might even contend for time. If none of your current characters want to talk to you a new one will rush out and ask for attention.

It’s almost funny how often new ideas come.

That’s why one of the best gifts to give a writer is notebooks and writing implements so they can always have something to jot a quick idea down on. The quickest ways to lose a story idea is to not get any part of it written down.

Though once you get even a few bones down you have to figure out if there is any meat to the story. Because without that meat, it isn’t worth writing.

I’ve lost story ideas because I didn’t get them written down.

I’ve discarded story ideas because some aspect of it didn’t seem plausible or it just wasn’t going to work.

I’ve stopped working on other stories because there wasn’t anything there to make a good story (the meat).

I’ve also left stories because I couldn’t figure out what happened next. This was because the characters weren’t talking to me. Without their input I couldn’t figure out what happened next or where I went off the rails. Those stories stalled.

Other stories I’ve got I’ve only been given a scene or two and I still can’t figure out how to make those into a full story. Of course, those characters aren’t talking to me yet, so no help at all.

I have one story idea that I dropped after trying to write one scene because I figured out I’d have to do a ton of research to do a proper job on it.

The stories that get somewhere, the ones I get to “the end”, are the ones were the characters start talking to me. They tell me who they really are and what their hopes are. Even what they are doing.

The best writing I’ve ever done was when I was typing out a scene I’d outlined for my story and one of my characters surprised me with something they said.

I went to delete it. I not only had not planned on putting that line in, I had intended not having that outcome in the story at all. However, before I removed it, I looked over what I had and thought about the character and the scene. It stayed. It worked. Sometimes your characters surprise you.

Smile. Make the day a brighter day.

The Worst Writing Advice by Bonnie Le Hamitlon

I think the worst writing advice I’ve ever been given is to write every day. I know some people who are yelling heresy right now but hear me out. I have several very good reasons why this is bad advice.

1.  Not everyone in the world has time to write every day. Some people have to earn their living by some other means and or have a busy family life. Or like me, can’t always concentrate enough to write. Not everyone has the ability to sit at home every day and just write. Period.

2.  Sometimes life gets in the way. Accidents happen, loved ones (or you) can get sick and require a trip the doctor or hospital. Stuff happens. Accept that.

3.  Finally, it isn’t the end of the world if you don’t write every day.

I view this whole “write every day” thing in the same vein as the adage about having a bowel movement every day. Until you’re feeling the urge but are unable to produce anything, you don’t have a problem.

That said, there is a reason people say you should write every day. And the reason is PRACTICE. That's right, practice. Writing is a talent, but it is also a skill, and skill takes work just like playing an instrument does. You can have all the talent in the world, but its worth diddlysquat if you don’t perfect it.

The hard part is to recognize first that it isn’t always possible to “practice” every day, and that sometimes just “playing the scales” is all you can manage.

To put that in a writing prospective, well, sometimes life happens. Even I have days where I don’t write a single word and I live alone. I’ve written about some of those times (think ADD). But I know other people have other things that come up. Konnie can relate a mountain “something came up” stories.

So, you didn’t write today. Its not the end of the world, or your writing career. You only have a problem if the non-writing goes on for weeks, months, or even worse years. In weeks or months, you are unlikely to forget the skills you already learned. While in years of non-writing, I promise, you could forget some of those skills.

I know this from experience.

I started writing in grade school and wrote consistently until I graduated from high school, then life took over and I didn’t write much of anything for 14 years.

After so many years of not writing, I’d forgotten a ton of grammar rules, and let’s face it, I was never very good at spelling – ever! (Thank God for Spellcheck!) When I started writing again I had to relearn the very basics. And once I got that down, I learned there were things about writing I’d never learned before; I’m still learning the craft of writing today.

But absolutely do not fret if it is just a day or two that you don’t manage to write. Don’t fret it if you skip one or two days of writing a week. You’re fine.

You do need start worrying when it goes on for month or longer but there are ways to combat that.

First you need to recognize what the issue is.

Some issues I’ve had with writing are:

1. The story isn’t working out in some way, needs work, and I’m not sure how to fix it.

a.  Set it aside, give it time, work on some other story, eventually (and yes it can take years) the answer will come to you for the one you’re blocked on, promise.

2.   You have let fear or anxiety get in your way.

a.   I know I’ve been there, it's hard and scary to put your work out there. We’ve all been there. You are not alone. Relax, take a breath, and start writing. If it helps, write about your fears.

3.  You have stupidly been reading something by a favorite author and have decided you will be NEVER be able to write like that.

a.  First, you can’t write like someone else. You have to write from the heart, ergo you have to write like you, so you will never write like your favorite author. You may be able to learn some tips from their writing style, but you still have to write like you.

b.  Second, comparing your writing to something already published is like comparing your everyday life to someone else’s highlights reel on Facebook. You have no idea how many stories she discarded or how many edits she went through before she got published. You are seeing her highlights and comparing that to your daily grunge. I'm telling you, no one looks good in that comparison. Stop doing it.

Happy writing everyone! 😊