Rachel Starr Thomson

Today’s writing tip is cheating because I didn’t write it; I read this article in the Writers Digest newsletter earlier today, and it was so good I had to share it. (I’m also sort of somewhat on vacation, which makes less likely to blog with absolute faithfulness.)

The article, which urges writers to test their novel and short story ideas to see if they have “legs,” is an excerpt from The Constant Art of Being a Writer by N.M. Kelby. It’s got great practical suggestions along with a fascinating analysis of how a story is birthed. Check it out!

http://www.writersdigestconference.com/GeneralMenu/

That’s right, New York City. I may finally realize my dream of going to a writer’s conference! This one looks about perfect — it can help me with promoting my self-published books as well as with breaking into the traditional market.

In the meantime, I’m going back down to Lake Erie today to participate in a Fish Fry. On the hour-long drive, I’ll be burying myself in Worlds Unseen — trying to get my head back into the Seventh World so I can start drawing up ideas for The Advent. To all you Americans, I wish a fond happy Fourth of July tomorrow. See you Monday!

After 30 years of rejection, I finally got tired of not knowing why my writing wasn’t working. Before trying to find a publisher or an agent, I sent the novel I’d just finished (or so I thought) off to a professional editor.

Read the whole article on Jane Friedman’s Writer’s Digest blog. (The piece is actually by Jim Adams.) It’s short and pithy and a great defense of freelance editors and all they can do! As a writer and an editor, I liked it.

Calling all teen authors: If you have (or can write) a manuscript of 20,000 to 30,000 words that’s aimed at 8-12-year-olds, check out the Tweener Time Chapter Book Competition! The competition is looking for “a work of fiction that’s fast-paced, action-packed and values-oriented and written for a ‘tweener’ audience.” You can find guidelines and more details at www.TweenerMinistries.org.

I really encourage you to check this contest out. I had the privilege of serving as a judge last year, and in February, our very own Inklings reader Jessica Erksine won third place in the Tweener Time Cover Art Competition — designing a cover for last year’s chapter book winner! I’ll be reviewing some of the Tweener Time winning books in the next few months as well, beginning with the 2007 First Place Winner, Journey to the Homeland by 16-year-old Hannah Stahlhut.

The first-place winner is awarded a $20,000 college scholarship, a $1,000 cash prize, a book contract with Baker Trittin Press, and royalties on book sales. The other awards are pretty amazing too, and I remember writing up detailed comments for the authors whose books I judged last year — so you have a chance to receive professional feedback on your work as well.

The contest deadline is July 1. Check out the Web site — and I wish you success!

We interrupt our regularly scheduled contest entries to bring you this exciting announcement:

My friend Jen Igarashi (who writes one of the funniest blogs on the Web) is a Rosetta Stone rep, and she’s giving away a free Latin curriculum. I would LOVE to win this thing, and I hope you get a chance, too. Here’s Jen’s announcement. If you enter, copy and paste the paragraphs below.

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Rosetta Stone is the fastest way to learn a language and has been the #1 foreign language curriculum among homeschoolers for a while — and you can WIN the *all new* version 3 Rosetta Stone Homeschool LATIN program… FOR FREE! This is the first year you can get Latin in the brand new Version III update.

This is a $259 program (and believe me it’s worth every penny!)
This is a computer based curriculum and Rosetta Stone will also include a headset with microphone, and a supplementary “Audio Companion” CD so you can practice lessons in the car, on the go, or where-ever! Students participate in life-like conversations and actually produce language to advance through the program. Rosetta Stone incorporates listening, reading, grammar, vocabulary and writing along with speaking and pronunciation lessons. For parents, the new Parent Administrative Tools are integrated into the program to allow parents to easily enroll up to ten students in any of 12 predetermined lesson plans, monitor student progress, grade completed work (the program grades the work automatically as the students progress- I love that!), and you can view and print reports for transcripts. Homeschooling a lot of kids at your house? This program is designed to enroll and track up to ten students (five users on two computers) and will work for nearly all ages — from beginning readers up to college students.

To win this most excellent Latin program copy these paragraphs and post them in (or as) your next blog post, and/OR link to the contest from your facebook page and/OR email the information to your homeschool support group – Then go to the original page http://Jeneralities.com and leave a comment saying that you’ve posted about, or have linked to, the contest. Please make sure the link works to get back to the original contest page when you post. And good luck!

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Bless you this day! More contest entries.

In lieu of a writing tip from me this week (more comma rules to come next week!), I thought I’d share this article from Writer’s Digest, “You Must Follow These Rules for Stronger Writing.” These rules are fairly elementary, but they really will make a difference in your writing. Here’s an excerpt:

8. WRITE CINEMATICALLY. When you write, think visually. Language holds endless possibilities for a creative approach to expressing an idea.

Eddy Peters exemplified this when he wrote, “Not only does the English Language borrow words from other languages, it sometimes chases them down dark alleys, hits them over the head and goes through their pockets.” 

I love conferences. Maybe that’s because I’m young and green and innocent, but I love the masses of people, the speakers, the excitement, the books. Oh, the books.

Tomorrow I am speaking at the Kitchener-Waterloo Christian Home Educators’ Conference. Carolyn will be there with me and we’ll be signing and selling books from the vendor hall. I will be talking for an hour or so on the subject of homeschooling and how it influences all of life. If you can make it, I’d love to see you there!

This June a very different sort of conference is happening, and I will not be there. Someday I’d love to go. It’s the Hawaii Writers Conference (formerly the Maui Writers Conference) and besides costing a great deal of money, I think it would be professionally motivating, inspiring, and yes, informative.

But in the spirit of the modern age, the HWC has done a marvelous thing and gathered all sorts of past HWC sessions — taught by famous writers, screenwriters, and directors, and agents and editors from large, successful houses — and put it all online in something called The Writers Channel. And THIS WEEKEND only, you can apparently sign up for free and enjoy the site content. Your free membership will only last through April 5.

Since I am leaving, I won’t be online either — not unless I can snatch a few minutes tonight from the jaws of getting-ready-to-speak-and-sell-stuff. I hope you get a chance to enjoy it.

Viewer/listener discretion is advised — while this is a professional conference, speakers come from varying backgrounds and are presenting for an adult crowd.

If you love old books and believe in the power of stories with a message, you would probably enjoy the works produced by Lamplighter Publishing. A ministry and business run by Mark Hamby, Lamplighter produces gorgeous old books from earlier centuries, each one overtly Christian and strongly message-focused.

These days, Lamplighter is up to more than just publishing books. My “Defy the Darkness” post of several weeks ago featured their first short film. (Haven’t seen it yet? What are you waiting for?) And today, I want to share their newest venture: Christian radio drama. Did you enjoy the Narnia audio recordings? How about Adventures in Odyssey? Then you’ll definitely want to check this out!

Mark sent out an e-mail not long ago proclaiming,

They did it! The first broadcast for Lamplighter Theatre is complete! I talked with the producer, writer, and engineer tonight and they were all very excited. The producer said that it was the most powerful program he has ever produced. The first story is based on the book of Sir Malcolm and the Missing Prince. I know that people say after you hear or see a dramatic production, that you have to read the book! And though I want people to read the book, the audio is actually better! I can’t wait till everyone listens to this drama. There are so many golden nuggets of God’s truth woven throughout, yet at the same time, all ages will be captivated by the adventure and drama.

Read more about this exciting work, hear a preview, and keep up on Lamplighter Theatre news at http://www.lamplightertheatre.com/.

Looking for the perfect name for your character? Stuck for inspiration? Desirous to add depth to the culture or themes of your story? Consider curling up with a baby name book.

Just as every writer should have a good dictionary and thesaurus to hand, so I believe every fiction writer needs a good baby name book. I have used mine (this one) to name characters I already had, invent characters I hadn’t thought of, and even get new story ideas. Names are a vast depository of treasures just waiting to be mined.

A random opening of the Big Book of Baby Names & Announcements yields fascinating information and lots of potential stories. Did you know that Vesta  means “Guardian of the sacred fire” or that Vivian was “imprisoned by Merlin in King Arthur Legend”? I flip to the Ns and find that Nissa means “Friendly Elf,” Nitara is Hindi for “Deeply rooted,” Nika is Russian for “Belonging to God,”  and Nova, a Hopi name, has the elusive meaning of “Chasing.”

In the section for male names, I found the name of one of the O’Roarke boys in Burning Light–Kieran, which means “Little and dark-skinned” in Gaelic. I can discover things about other Seventh World characters here, too: Jerome is a “Holy name,” Nicolas means “Victory of the people,” and Michael proclaims “Who is like the Lord?”

If you don’t have one of these treasuries on your shelf, I highly recommend picking one up. Look for one that includes names from many cultures and languages and gives some background information about them. In the meantime, check out BehindtheName.com, one of my favourite Web sites, which goes into name etymology and meaning.

This month’s Boundless article is all about homeschooling — a lifestyle my parents chose when I was young that has impacted every part of my life. Here’s the link.