Day #251 The Life of a Writer

In case you didn’t know, I’ve been writing for most of my life, although I never actually published a novel until after the turn of the century. Still, just like in beekeeping, there’s always more to learn.

At the suggestion of my good friend Nanette Littlestone (who happens to be my editor as well), I signed up for an online writing class. The instructor, Margie Lawson, is an expert on body language, and she’s really good at teaching people how to enliven their prose and freshen up their stale writing.

Not that I think my writing is stale. But still, I learned a LOT from the class. In the book I’m working on now, the town deputy interviews a woman who lives north of Martinsville. He asks her if he can look more closely around her son’s room.

            “No.” I wrote in a previous draft. Mrs. Zapota’s lips thinned to a fine line. “He’s very particular about his things.”

Margie doesn’t like thinning lips, and she encouraged all of us (I wasn’t the only one) to find a better way to use body language to show what the character felt. This is what I came up with:

            “No.” Her lips went from Pillsbury Doughboy to Wicked Witch. “He’s very particular about his things.”

Fun, huh? I may still change it again – especially if Nanette asks me to – but I’m learning to trust that there will always be things I can learn, and ways I can improve.

Just you wait till I start trying to harvest honey!

BEEattitude for Day # 251:

       Blessed are those who call the rain when we need it, for their trees shall be washed and watered.
 
_______________________________ 
The teeny details:
my books:  http://www.franstewart.com
my eBooks on Amazon for Kindle
my eBooks on Smashwords (for all other formats)