Occupy and Freedom of Speech by Christine Duncan

If you have been reading this blog for a while, you may remember a post I did last fall on the Occupy movement. My son had been arrested here in Denver for participating in a march.
It has been a long six months.
My son managed to make the TV news here in Colorado for a great deal of the day he was arrested. He was on channels, 2, 4, 7 and 31, telling people “We are the 99%.” For those of you in Colorado, let me just tell you he was the kid in the striped hoodie who got pepper sprayed in the face by a cop as he sat on the curb. Yes, that’s my kid. Incredible as it seems, people who did not even know he was my son remember that news story.
He had four charges against him. Illegal march, or some such (I am paraphrasing as legal-ese does not come easily to me.) Resisting arrest which apparently is sagging when they come to pick you up. His arrest is on camera as is much of the rest of day, so I know that’s what he did. I just didn’t know it was illegal. It was good enough for Ghandi…. Not respecting the authority of an officer was another charge. Now that one…the kid did flip the guy off. But I think that is protected under freedom of speech. He also told the cop that cops were part of the 99%. I don’t think the cop was impressed.
The last charge was impeding traffic.
This week after much discussion, the city of Denver dropped all but impeding traffic under a plea deal. My kid got 6 months probation.

I’m frightened, folks. I think Denver made these kind of moves to keep these people from marching. After all, if these protestors get re-arrested in the six months, they will face stiffer penalties. I think they were out of line with the pepper spray, and the batons. And I think the city of Denver is not alone.

What does this have to do with writing? As I told you all in the fall, all of this is freedom of speech. And who has more at stake on freedom of speech than writers?

I was not, when this started, a huge supporter of Occupy. I think they need to sit down and figure out just what they stand for. And to tell you the truth, as a Mom, I had a hard time keeping my mouth out of it when the kid had to decide what to do. I wanted to tell him to do whatever it was to keep himself from getting hurt by all this.

But the American in me is outraged. And I wanted to pursue it. Because we have a right to peaceable protest. Or we did.

Consider blogging, writing or just vocalizing what you think of what is happening to our freedoms. Consider supporting your local Occupy movement.

A Valentine to Writers by Christine Duncan

In my search for something to write about for this post today, I went around the internet checking for writing related tips. I found everything from 52 tips to improve your blog to quotes for writers
Although I admit to liking a heck of a lot of the quotes (
“Don’t get it right, just get it written.” James Thurber (1894-1961) Author) I didn’t find anything I couldn’t live without today.

Which started me on a somewhat twisted but semi-logical thought. Isn’t that why we write? Because there is something we want to share enough, something that is big enough, something, I don’t know personal enough and enlightening enough, we hope someone will think, “Yeah, I’m glad I read that. That’s so true. I’m going to tell everyone I know about that (book, article, blogpost.)”

Anyway, follow this twisted thought down the line with me; I realized today that writers have guts. Cause, you know, you have to be willing to say things that are hard–intense, sometimes painful. You have to be pretty gutsy to share things that personal.

It’s like that crazy lady that you know, and secretly love, who says all the nastiest possible things at exactly the right time–the time when you’re thinking them yourself but don’t dare say them. You know that lady. She works in your office or lives down the street somewhere. You love to watch her go on a tear, as long as it’s not at you. Because you know what she says is true, don’t you?

That is what good writing does. It brings out that truth. It makes you laugh and cry and sit and think.

Writers do that. Writers write stuff people know but think is really too ugly, too sad, too, I don’t know–dumb to say.

Pretty lofty thoughts to get from a failed internet search. But a good thought for Valentine’s day. Writers rock their world. Now go out and write!

Reading and Writing (Yes Again) by Christine Duncan

I went running with my son this morning, before our latest snow fall. He and I have been discussing on and off, why it is that when some runners pass you, they tend to look superior.
After last fall’s marathon, I tend to have an inner comeback. Yeah, the runner may be passing me, but I’m pretty sure I didn’t see them lined up at that starting line. (The fact that if they had been there, they still would have passed me as though I were standing still is irrelevant. They had to show up first, right?) That little ego boost works most every time.
I wish I had a similar one for writing.
You know, I always thought the reason I was a writer was because first I was a reader. I read everything including the small print on advertising, the backs of the vitamin bottle when I’m eating my cereal and just about anything fiction I can get my grubby little hands on. And I’m always intrigued when I find someone who does things a little differently whether it’s writing in the present tense or taking a twist on a genre. (I do have a bit of a hard time when writers write in the 2nd person but that is a whole ‘nother blog post.)
I learned a while back that not every writer feels that way. You know the ones. Rules are rules and we have them for a reason.
For instance, there is a discussion on a writer’s forum I like to frequent discussing one author’s S/F-mystery novel. The mystery writers on the forum came off as judgemental. They wouldn’t read something like that. They needed reality with their fiction.
Huh?
Tell that to Nora Roberts who writing as JD Robb has had a very successful S/F mystery series. Or Donna Andrews who does a nice series in the same genre mix.
Then there are the writers who turn up their noses at romance and mystery. They tend to make fun of readers of that particular type of novel–try to make it sound like the readers are slightly dim and the writer can’t do any better.
I need a comeback, people!
‘Cause, you know, I don’t write S/F mystery, but I might want to, someday.

What Authors Influenced You? by Christine Duncan

This started on Facebook with Ar Braun, but I had to write on it. His post was simple: list 15 authors who influenced you.
At first, I thought, no way could I come up with 15! My second thought was that there were way more than 15–far too many to list: The authors of my childhood like Louisa Mae Alcott and Mark Twain (yeah, I was a nerdy kid, what can I say?) The authors of the books that made me think and stay up and argue in college like Ayn Rand. The poets I loved like Frost, the mystery writers like Elizabeth Peters, the historians, the biographers, the woman who wrote a book way back in the late 60′s or 70′s called Rest and Be Thankful (No, I don’t think it was the Helen Mcinnes book.) Josh McDowell’s Evidence that demands a verdict.
Wandering back through the books was a nice treat, so I’m passing it on to you. What authors-what books influenced you?
So many books, so many authors.

Another Characteristic of a Writer by Christine Duncan

Have you ever noticed that we writers tend to have a lot of books? I think it’s pretty true. I’ve been to many a writing friend’s house and no matter what the decor, elaborate shelves or tomes used as end tables, we all tend to have lots and lots of books. The fact is, this used to cause me quite a lot of guilt. I mean, books can cost some money and I am always broke. Turns out, I was just being a good parent.

No joke. Mariah Evans a sociologist from the University of Nevada, did a study which concluded that kids who grow up in households full of books will go farther, educationally. Too cool! I can stop feeling so freakin’ guilty. Or is that a characteristic of writers too?

Writer’s digest came out with its list of 101 best websites for writers in its May-June issue. Many of the sites listed (like Preditors and Editors, Writer Beware, and Grammar girl) were oldies but goodies. But writer Jane Friedman did a short subset on the list which could be helpful.

I’ve got my computer back, so those of you who were writing to me about guesting, please please, email me again. I got quite a bunch of info from that old hard drive but no email. :-<

Are All Writers Introverts? by Christine Duncan

Julie Lomoe recently did a post on Crimespace asking this very question. Are all writers introverts? Julie even included a link to the Jung typology test just in case you didn’t know and needed to figure it out.

In my case, it was a no-brainer. I took the test anyway. And as expected, I tested out as extremely introverted (89%).

The thing with these kinds of tests is that you KNOW that if you answer a certain way, you are going to get that result. One of the questions for example: Would you rather attend a party or stay home and read a good book?

Any good introvert automatically knows the answer. The fact of the matter is though, if I know most everyone at the party (and like them–that’s important too) I might like to go to the party–especially at this time of year. Even we introverts celebrate occasionally and we know that good books will keep until we get there.

Of course knowing the answer will lead to a given result doesn’t negate the fact that if I feel that way a lot of the time, that is the way I should answer the test if I want to get a realistic test result.

But it got me to thinking about how just a few words skew a reader’s perceptions. I’ve been doing this anyway as I revise my manuscript because my critique group had made a few comments a long while back about my heroine’s ex. Specifically, one critique group member called the ex a jerk. It surprised the heck out of me, because I hadn’t written all that much about the guy.

Going back over what I’d written, I realized that while I hadn’t spent much ink on the character, what I had written was bound to elicit a bad reaction from women. We do these things as writers in an effort to bring the reader up to speed. We intend to skew the results and work hard to learn how to do it right. It is, simply put, characterization.

As many of the writers who had read the post recorded their results in the comment section, I realized that many writers also scored in the judgmental range. Writers need to make judgments of course. You have an opinion or else what would you write about?

But think about this then. Do judgmental introverts (writers) then have more influence on societal mores than extroverts since presumably more people are reading our stuff than we would ever reach at that party?

Or maybe it’s more important to ask this question: Do extroverts read?

I wonder if there is a test for that.

What’s a Writer? by Linda M. Faulkner

Our guest this week at Rule of Three is Linda M. Faulkner  who is  a novelist (check out her book, Second Time Around,)  and the author of the newspaper column, “Business Sense.” She’s also a member of MWA, RWA, SinC, EPIC, Rocky Mountain Chapter of MWA, Montana Chapter of RWA, past-present of RWA’s New England Chapter from 1990-1994.  So the woman knows a bit about writers! Here’s what she has to say

 

Here’s a question for you:  What’s the definition of writer?

            According to Webster, it’s:  one that writes.  Personally, I’d say one WHO writes…  But hey, I wasn’t hired to write the dictionary and Webster was, so who am I to talk?

            Which sums up, quite nicely, what I’d like to say.  So, why did I put it at the beginning, you ask.

Because.

Because that’s the way I write.  Because I’m a writer and I get to write what I want to write.

First Amendment—remember that?

            A lot of talk goes on in the world of writers:  within writing organizations, within publishing houses, between the members of writer’s organization and the employees of publishing houses.  Between writers, too.  What amazes me is that so much intolerance exists.

            I attended a critique group once and Writer A refused to listen to Writer B read an excerpt from her erotic romance novel because Writer A embraces a certain religion, doesn’t read erotica, and finds it offensive.  I’ve also heard a published writer say that she won’t attend a critique group with unpublished writers in attendance because the unpubbed don’t have any experience and she doesn’t trust her work with them. 

            HELLO!  If we’re all writers, we’re doing the same thing:  we write.  We sit in front of our laptops (or word processors or legal pads), we holler at our imaginations to come up with stuff no one has come up with before, we string words together—hoping that our arrangements of the little buggers will rip emotion from the hearts of our readers and motivate them to buy more of our stuff.

Does the writer of science fiction novels work any less diligently than the writer of historical romance?  Does an unpublished writer have a less effective inner-editor than a published writer does?  If your book is published by an ePub, does that automatically make it less well crafted than if it’s published by Doubleday?

I’m sure there are people who will answer Yes! to all three of my questions.  I wish there were more of us who will answer No!

I am a proponent of writers sticking together and supporting each other.  Every published writer was once unpublished and lacking in experience.  Very few of us were born with the innate understanding of grammar, punctuation, spelling, noun-verb agreement, developing a voice, creating sympathetic characters and exciting plots, etc.  We all had to learn these things.  Where’s our compassion and tolerance?

If I embrace my own First Amendment rights as a writer, then I sure as heck am not going to infringe upon someone else’s First Amendment rights.  The more writers we have, the more stuff we readers have at our fingertips.  Your success doesn’t threaten mine:  it inspires me to work harder; it proves to me that my success isn’t out of reach.

I’m a writer.  I write.  What do you do?

Indie Bound

I’m doing something I wouldn’t normally do. I am a regular poster on another blog and I would not normally repeat posts from one blog to another. However, I want to make sure that the word gets out on this one, so forgive me but except for just a few changes, this is a repeat.

I was on Facebook the other day social networking, (okay, messing around, but doesn’t social networking sound like I really had a purpose?) I came across a post from IndieBound that I wanted to help spread.

What is IndieBound? To quote from their own site, ” IndieBound is a socially conscious movement in support of independent businesses and shopping locally, starting with indie bookstores.

I have had posts about independent booksellers before. I think the indies are the one who tend to give new writers a chance and beyond that, as someone who relies on a small business for my own support, (What? you thought I made a living writing? I only wish!) I am a big proponent of small business. Indiebound gives writers a chance to affiliate with small bookstores through a website link the same way many do with Amazon. And for readers, the site helps you find independent bookstores in your area and even search their websites for books you are interested in. They have an Indie Bestseller list and a monthly, Indie Next list which tells you what books, independent booksellers are handselling across the nation.

And it’s not limited to books.The mission of IndieBound is to spread the word about small business, hoping to help strengthen main street in each community. Talk about a stimulus package! And when you buy local, you know where the money is going. So if anybody is getting a trip to Vegas out of it, you aren’t surprised.

End of message. I return you to your regularly scheduled blog.