Revisiting the Twilight Zone: The Imagination Dimension

Suzanne Transformational Words

“There is a fifth dimension beyond that which is known to man … a dimension as vast as space and as timeless as infinity. It is the middle ground between light and shadow, between science and superstition, and it lies between the pit of man’s fears and the summit of his knowledge. This is the dimension of imagination.”                                   ~~Rod Serling

I doubt Rod Serling knew his Twilight Zone series would live on more than forty years after his death.  From 1959 to 1964, his short stories thrilled viewers with frightening twists to what appeared normal.  And no matter where you reside, there is undoubtedly at least one station on which you can catch the mellifluous tones of his introduction to each show.

While this might be his most remembered accomplishment (156 episodes, ninety-two written by Rod), Serling was a prolific writer. His created stories, movies (twenty-two) and television shows (252 scripts, winning six Emmy’s) for many years.  His stories broke open the behaviors and beliefs of Everyman and held a mirror up to the watcher.  He never hesitated to reflect humanity’s darkest side, inviting us to recognize where our prejudices and hatreds led us.

Like many writers, he received his first encouragement from a teacher.  In 1983, he gave her name to a teacher in Twilight Zone: The Movie.

In 2009, the United States Post Office debuted a stamp in his honor.  Today, while we celebrate Twilight Zone Day, I imagine Rod in his sharp suit, cigarette in hand.  He’s probably shaking his head as he remembers saying, “Fame is short-lived. One year after this show [The Twilight Zone] goes off the air, they’ll never remember who I am. And I don’t care a bit. Anonymity is fine with me. My place is as a writer.”

And he wrote well.

 

If you’d like to work with me this year, I have a few spots open through the end of the year.  Email me at Suzanne@TransformationalEditor.com and let’s start a conversation about how I may help you attain your writing dreams.

[The link to the 28-DVD Twilight Zone set is an affiliate link.]

Your Biggest Fear About Editors Debunked

Suzanne Transformational Editing

If you’ve ever completed a story or a longer manuscript you’ve experienced a freeing rush of relief.  You’ve invested days, or at least hours, in the writing.  Endured the anguish of writing your hero into an inescapable corner.  Perhaps you even shed a few tears over your hopes of ever finishing the piece and getting it published.

And what’s the next step you’re encouraged to take?  You’re expected to hand your fledgling masterpiece over to someone who lives with a red pencil stuck behind their ear.

You cower behind your desk, sobbing, “But what if an editor rewrites my story so that I don’t even recognize it?”

That’s not likely to happen.

The editing process is a partnership between the creative mind of the writer and the discerning eye of the editor.  It takes both to craft the finest product.

Think of yourself as a sculptor.  You’ve taken an amorphous idea, shaped, and molded it into something a reader recognizes.

“Ah, yes,” he says. “Not only is this a story, but it’s a fictionalized adventure based on a historical event.”  Or perhaps she is pleased to discover you’ve crafted an inspirational memoir.

It’s time to find the rough edges you left in the first few chapters when you wrote so enthusiastically you rushed through this section.  Or to excavate the paragraphs where you couldn’t decide how much of your vast amount of research was essential, so you included every bit.

If you are the sculptor, the editor is the polishing stone.

Here’s the thing.  A good editor doesn’t have any interest in changing your story into something else.  She only wants to help you present your best writing possible.

She knows when and where to file down a glaring seam or to build up the structure in a saggy spot.  If the writer has done his job, the editor only has to refine that work.

Yes, your manuscript may look like it’s bleeding when it’s returned.  You may receive pages of notes about weak points or inconsistencies.  That’s good.  If my stories came back without a single mark, I’d be looking for another editor.  Even after several iterations and phases of self-editing, my work needs another eye.

Here is where you take a deep breath and repeat out loud: “The editor is my friend.  We are partners.  Her suggestions make my story shine.”  Repeat as necessary until you find your ideal editor and send your infant novel into her care.

Not only will you recognize your manuscript when your editor sends the pages back.  You’ll brush away a tear of pride as you hold them in your hands and say, “I didn’t realize the full potential you had.”

But your editor did.

 

If you’d like to work with me this year, I have a few spots open through the end of the year.  Email me at Suzanne@TransformationalEditor.com and let’s start a conversation about how I may help you attain your writing dreams.

What’s Your Biggest Fear About Editors?

Suzanne Transformational Editing

Unless you’re an editor, you can’t imagine the glow of delight created when a client says they love what I’ve helped them do with their words.

That feeling not only strengthens my resolve to help other writers but empowers my client to continue writing.

Without a solid base of story, character, and plot, there would be nothing for me to edit.  So I always remind writers I work with that our connection would never happen without their bravery in putting the words on the pages, and in entrusting those pages to someone else.

It’s a nurturing relationship.  A good editor makes a writer feel they can achieve any goal if they work at it.  And the editor steers them gently in the direction they have stated they want to go.  A writer hoping to create a successful bond with an editor is open to suggestions that help weave a stronger story and build a solid base from which to reach their dreams.

There have been far too many writers I’ve talked with who fear editors.  Those writers hold a firm conviction that no one understands where they’re taking their characters and the setting, except themselves.  Any editor getting his or her hands on their precious words will strip all meaning and uniqueness from the story.  The writers fear they won’t recognize the pages they get back.

Let me reassure you.  A good editor does not take a blacksmith’s hammer to a delicate golden bracelet of words.  She uses a tiny jeweler’s tool to nudge the graceful arc into even more pleasing form.  And she never sets that treasure into stone without the author’s approval.

So here’s your chance.  Tell me your greatest fear having to do with editors.  You can leave a comment or email me at Suzanne@TransformationalEditor.com.  No question is too silly to ask because somewhere out there is someone else wanting to know the same thing you do.  I’ll answer each comment or email and help you discover ways your fear of working with an editor may be holding you back from your book dreams.

 

If you’d like to work with me this year, I have a few spots open through the end of the year.  Email me at Suzanne@TransformationalEditor.com and let’s start a conversation about how I may help you attain your writing dreams.

 

Your Biggest Question About Editors Answered

Suzanne Transformational Editing

Who knew all you writers out there were so shy?  No one wanted to ask a question this week.  So, here’s the number one biggest question I get in person when someone asks what I do.

“Why should I pay a professional editor for something my spouse/friend/next door neighbor/pastor/librarian can do for free?”  (Or I hear “Everyone tells me I’m a great writer.  I don’t need an editor.”)

First, let me tell you that anyone who undertakes the task of editing a manuscript, or even a long article, at no charge has no sense of the amount of time and effort they’re about to donate to your cause.  Yes, they (and you) may look upon it as a labor of love.  But to edit properly takes many hours of attention and years of specific experience.

And second, that there’s not a writer on the best-seller list that didn’t go through the editing process more than once.  Any guesses why they made it into that illustrious group?

 

Let’s look at only four of the multiple ways a professional editor can improve your manuscript.

Identifying Misused Words

Goes without saying.  No editor will let your character run bear through the town square unless said character is getting his paranormal shape-shifting “thing” on.

And she certainly won’t allow your heroine to bare her hardships stoically unless she’s riding a palomino pony through the streets—and wearing a long wig for the sake of the children in your audience.

A skilled editor understands how nationality affects the use of language.  For example, in the differences between British and American spellings of a word.  Or in words that have different meanings to various groups and nations.

Your American mechanic won’t be picking up a spanner, but if he’s working on an Austin Healy Sprite the car’s beautiful owner will tell him the spare is in the boot.

 

Patching Story Inconsistencies

A good editor won’t allow your villain to climb in the second story window of a one-story building.

She’ll call the author’s attention to the fact that a character sits at a table with a white cloth and crystal glasses inside a formal restaurant at the beginning of the scene but stands up from a bare sidewalk table outside a café when the scene ends.

And she’ll question why the hero or heroine (or even the villain) act outside their stated values in a pivotal scene.  Sometimes, you as the author, intend your characters to abandon their morals and beliefs to make a point or to throw a twist into the plot.  But the editor will have you affirm your choice to introduce this dilemma into the story.

 

Extensive Fact Checking

Your professional editor won’t permit the hero to aim a 41-inch assault weapon through the windshield of his vehicle unless he’s sitting in the back seat.

Nor will he miss the fact that your character makes a hundred-foot climb up a rocky cliff in four minutes flat while wearing slick-soled dress shoes.

If your heroine is shopping on Fifth Avenue, she’d better be in a store located on that street or the editor will vigorously apply his (virtual) blue pen.

 

Cutting the Undergrowth

Editing’s not just about catching misused words.  It’s about being able to hear and feel the flow of the story and find the holes that weaken it.  It’s recognizing the writer’s pet words, the phrases that repeatedly appear, clichés, and other individual habits that detract from the narrative and suggesting ways to rewrite for clarity and power.

 

Maybe your writing is perfect—elegant, flowing, and heaven to the eyes.  But most of us can’t claim that.  We all need the help and support of a strong team to publish our words successfully.  A professional editor is one of the most vital members of that team.  Have you begun building your support system?  Now’s the time.

 

If you’d like to work with me this year, I have a few spots open from mid-April through the end of the year.  Email me at Suzanne@TransformationalEditor.com and let’s start a conversation about how I may help you attain your writing dreams.

What’s Your Biggest Question About Editors?

Suzanne Transformational Editing

I’m grateful to each of you who show up, read my posts, and occasionally even leave a comment.  So, in the spirit of National Reading Month, I’m asking my readers “What’s your biggest question about working with an editor?”

  • Are you having trouble figuring out what type of editor you need at this stage of your writing?
  • Do you wonder how the writer/editor relationship works?
  • How does the writer know when it’s time to call in an editor?
  • When was the last time you wondered if it’s any use to do self-editing?

Whatever your question, I encourage you to ask it this week.  You can leave it in a comment, or email me at Suzanne@TransformationalEditor.com.

On March 30, I’ll answer every question I get.  And everyone who leaves a question here, or sends one in an email will receive a copy of my upcoming handbook.  (There’ll be more details on that project very soon.)

Take advantage of this chance to get an answer to your burning questions about finding and working with editors.  I’m looking forward to hearing from you.

National Reading Month – Celebrate Books

Suzanne Read

Someone came up with the perfect excuse for readers to do what they love best.  “No, I can’t clean the house or go to your office party.  It’s National Reading Month, and I’ve sworn to do my share.”

If you’ve taken a close look at the book market lately, you already know there are more books published every day than a group of a thousand readers could devour in a lifetime.

 

There have never been more books available to the public.  And never more chances to discover new authors, new reading interests, and new ways to read.

57,732,017 – # of books on Amazon when I started writing this post

12  – #of new books published on Amazon each hour (calculated in 2014)

 

If you’re a tactile soul, you’ll be ordering the latest hardback or paperback version of a bestseller.  It’s especially rewarding to read a classic in its original form.  The texture of the cover, the feel of the pages as you turn them add to the depth of what you’re reading.

1,514,093 – # of books in Literature and Fiction categories labeled as Classic on Amazon

 

Or maybe, you cherish your digital reading device because you’re always on the go.  It’s lightweight, easy to load with hundreds of books, and you enjoy the glow of the screen.

4,366,490 – # of Kindle books on Amazon

 

Then there are you graphic novel fans.  Your choices grow larger every day.  Like peanut butter and jelly, art and words are natural partners.

870,543 – # of books labeled as Graphic Novels on Amazon

 

Other readers are eagerly stepping into the interactive novel world.  Technology excites and interests them.

257,819 – # of books labeled as Interactive on Amazon

 

Reading keeps your brain tuned up, engaged, and alert.  When I’m tired, a few minutes of reading provides immediate relaxation.

35 – percent of lower risk to develop dementia for readers

 

2 – # of fiction books I’m reading this week

Murder on Edisto by C. Hope Clark.  Re-reading this book (and her Caroline Slade series) so I can write a review(s).

Blue Labyrinth by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child.  I’m fascinated by Agent Pendergast and his associates.

 

1 – # of non-fiction books I’m reading this week

Self-Publisher’s Legal Handbook: The Step-by-Step Guide to the Legal Issues of Self-Publishing by Helen Sedwick.  Another book for my resources shelf.

 

What’s on your reading list this National Reading Month?  Why did you choose it?  We’ll all discover new reading delights when we share in the comments.

An even better question is: What are you writing that we’ll be reading this time next year?

 

Happy National Reading Month!

 

Disclosure:  Some of the above links are affiliate links.  If you’d rather I don’t receive a small fee for guiding you to these items, just hop on over to Amazon and do a search on the titles.

Take Time to Build the Layers

Suzanne Transformational Words

This morning saw the end of more than fifty hours of low, thick fog surrounding my house.  By noon, the last traces of it disappeared, revealing a cold, gray sky.

Weather forecasters said layers of snow created the fog.  And the lack of any trace of sunlight for three days kept it in place.

That first day, the view from my windows revealed less and less of the woods and homes around here.  I’ve got to tell you it was an eerie feeling to watch that dense blanket of white creep closer, like scrims dropping from the back of the stage to the front.  Until all the actors disappear, their existence evident only through the stirring of their passage across the boards.

This unseasonable fog reminded me of the importance of layers in writing.  Each one reveals or conceals a thin slice of information about the character, the place, or the plot.  Once they are all in place, you’ve given your story shape and movement.

Maybe you’re wondering how fog can help with your writing.  Let’s take a look at three ways to use layering.

Atmosphere

Walking out to the mailbox on the side of the road, I deliberately experienced the fog with every sense.

It was surprisingly cold that first day, yet most of the snow around my house had disappeared.  I hadn’t realized fog could rise when there was so little moisture in the air.  It trailed across my exposed cheeks like damp spider webs.  A trace of wood smoke from someone’s fireplace laced the air.  The moisture of the fog muted the aroma of a skunk that wanders the neighborhood.  I could almost taste the dense veil that shifted around me as I walked down the driveway.  Visibility was so low I couldn’t make out the neighbor’s mailbox down the road.  I strained my eyes to see my house.  As I walked back up the driveway, I thought I heard a muffled voice call to me.  Then I realized it belonged to an unseen mockingbird mimicking the whistle of a distant train.

Each sense described in the above paragraph created a clearer picture of the scene.  Readers fall deeper into your narrative when you employ as many senses as possible.

Character

Revealing everything about a character in one jumbled mess of info dump cheats your reader out of discovering his or her personality and quirks in the natural flow of the story.

Instead of making the physical description of the heroine into a laundry list, show who she is by her actions, through what she says and how she says it.  Reveal how she relates to people around her.  How does she handle a crisis?  Does she support her friends?  Is she a loner?  Create a three-dimensional character your readers would instantly recognize if they met her on the street.  Make her relatable by giving her experiences your readers have had.

Which way would you prefer to discover who a character?

Peggy Sue had her mother’s blond hair and her father’s height.  She met her best friend in second grade.  It would have been first grade, except she had been in the hospital after a heart replacement that entire year.  Once she recovered, she enjoyed sports and cheerleading.  She was unanimously elected Prom Queen after she saved a puppy from drowning.  But her track record in relationships is dismal.

When she woke this morning. . .

OR

Peggy Sue woke to discover she’d managed to wrap her braided hair around her neck so tightly she couldn’t roll over without cutting off her breath.

That was it.  Today was the day she cut the blonde mess short.  Her mother would be devastated.  But she didn’t have to untangle it after every shampoo.  And her mother certainly didn’t wake up dreaming she was being strangled by someone she couldn’t see.

If she was going to tick off her mother today, maybe she might as well go whole hog and tell her father she didn’t want the bed from her old room.  Last night he’d called to say he planned to deliver it this afternoon so she wouldn’t have to buy yet another piece of new furniture for her new house.  It would be wonderful to sleep on something more comfortable, and higher off the ground than her trusty air mattress.  But she had no desire to curl her five foot nine inches onto the twin bed of her youth.  He would surely understand.  She’d never known her six-foot dad to sleep on anything less than a king-sized bed.

If her parents would only realize she was no longer the sickly child they’d worried over so many years ago.  She didn’t know how to tell them she felt smothered by their constant attention.  They would be hurt, but. . .

Plot

The first night of the fog, I had a long, crazy dream.

I was in a waiting room somewhere when I realized my purse was missing.  At first, I thought someone had moved it.  I looked for a long time.  Under chairs, behind a sofa, in the closet, on shelves.  It wasn’t in that room.  But I was sure I had it when I arrived.

I spent more time looking for the purse, asking everyone who came and went if they had seen it.  By then I had a sick realization that I didn’t  know what it looked like.  After what felt like hours, I recalled that it had a keypad, similar to a home security system on the back side of the purse.  Even knowing what it looked like didn’t help me because none of the dozens of bags in that room resembled what I remembered in any way.

Then I realized I wouldn’t be able to get a taxi to return home because my cash was in the purse.  Again hours seemed to pass as I attempted to find a way home that wouldn’t involve miles of walking.

It only slowly dawned on me that my credit card, driver’s license, car and house keys were in my missing purse.  My first thought was about the time and trouble it would be to replace them.  Then I hoped I could get my credit card canceled before someone found my purse and went shopping.

Only after I had found my way home and approached my front door did the terrifying thought hit me.  Whoever had my purse had my address and my keys.  What if I entered the house and . . .

When I woke the next morning, I remembered every layer of suspense added to that dream.  I still felt the horrible realization that someone waited on the other side of the door for me.  And I knew I needed to write about using layers to craft your story.

Can you peel apart the layers of your story?  Does each layer build the character, setting, or emotion you want?  Do you need more layers?  Try this on your WIP and leave a comment to share what you discover about where adding layers of atmosphere, character development, and plot takes your story.

Fresh Year, Fresh Approach

Suzanne Transformational Words

Don’t you just love a fresh new year? They’re full of exciting possibilities. But we sometimes fail to see that until we grab our usual work habits and writing choices, and give them a good shake. Kind of like an early spring cleaning.

My year has started off with a few twists I didn’t expect. But I’m looking forward to seeing where the new opportunities lead.

In my last post, I promised to tell you what I’ll be working on in 2016. Blocks for months and days peek through the sticky notes covering my planning calendar as I move ideas for projects around for optimum timing.

Maybe my most ambitious and important project is nearly finished. This website will soon have a fresh, updated appearance. I hope it will allow readers and writers to find easily everything they’re searching for when they visit.

In 2015, I shared my 12 Steps to Publication course with local writers in partnership with the county library. Other libraries requested inclusion on my calendar even before the first workshop happened. I love sharing what I’ve learned over the years, but I wasn’t keen on travelling every month. After some thought about how I could reach the greatest number of writers, I decided to turn the well-received workshop series into an online course. That’s at the top of my list, and I’m currently working on making that happen. Cross your fingers for me to hit a mid-summer release date.

While I provided tons of information and tips in the original course, I feel a workbook will help writers focus their efforts as they progress through the modules. I’m working on that in conjunction with setting the course up online.

There’s one additional piece I’m mulling over to add to the project. I’ll tell you all about it when it gets clear in my mind.

You know that the third Wednesday of each month I’ve been sharing misused words I’ve seen while editing and reading for pleasure. With only one spot per month, my notebooks fill up so much faster than I could hope to share these words with you. The first week of this year, I found myself building a book around how to choose the best word for your story. There are more than 250 entries to date, and I’m just getting started.

I’m enjoying working on first books with a handful of writers. And I’ve decided this is the year I finish at least one of the seven or eight books that have been languishing in my In-Work folder on my laptop.

Because I’ve taken on more editing work and I want to carve more writing time for my novels, I’ve decided to alter my blog post schedule for at least the rest of 2016. Starting with this post, I will change from a weekly schedule to two posts per month. You will still be able to find writing and editing tips right here, every first and third Wednesday of each month.

As always, I’m open to suggestions and questions. What’s on your mind? How can I help you reach your publication goals this year? What can I do better here?

Leave a comment and share how I can improve what I offer on this blog. Or best of all, share what you’re working on, your goals, and your dreams. I’m ready to be your best cheerleader.

Third Wednesday: Plan vs. Action

Suzanne Transformational Words

This post deviates a bit from my usual Third Wednesday article.

Instead of writing about words I’ve seen misused, I want to write about how I’m stepping into a new year of blogging.  And I’m hoping you’ll let me know how I can best help you reach your goals in writing and publishing your books.

Instead of spending the end of 2015 setting goals I took a couple of weeks off to remember why I created this blog and to analyze if it meets my goal of supporting and encouraging writers.

So the words I want to look at today are Plan and Action.

 

Plan – to devise a scheme for doing, making, or arranging for a purpose or project.

Every year I plan to write more, be more creative in other parts of my life, and to make time to have fun.

Plans help focus your attention on something you want to do.  You wouldn’t want to build a spaceship or a sailing ship without a plan.

Action – the state of being in motion or of working.

Action is the only way to make plans come to fruition.

When I move from the planning to the action stage, magical things begin to happen in my life.

 

Here’s another look at Plan and Action.

Wrong:

Plans are the only thing I need to be a writing success.

If I don’t meet my goals for my writing projects, I just make a new plan.

There’s no need to take action if I have a solid plan in place.

Action is something that happens in Doc Savage comics but has nothing to do with writing and publishing my words.

Right:

A plan gives me a snapshot of where I am and where I want to be in my writing.

I plan to move from imagining what I want to do into completing the steps required to get there.

Once I know what I need to do, I take action to accomplish my writing dreams.

The sooner I move into action, the sooner I see my name on a book at the local bookstore.

There’s no way to make a plan for a writing career become a reality without action on my part.

 

How will you take action to make your writing dreams a success this year?  Where do you get hung up in the process of writing and publishing?

How can I help you claim 2016 as your year for writing success?  Leave a comment or use the contact form and tell me the biggest fear keeping you from taking Action right now.  Let’s make your dreams come true.

Next week I’ll tell you about the projects I’ve chosen to work on this year.