ICE CRYSTALS

"A BROWN LEAF"
a poem by Carol R. Ice

In the woods today a leaf fluttered down.
It was wrinkled and old and bent and brown.
But it met the wind and began to play,
And I watched it until it whirled away.
And I could but wonder, when time and grief
Should have made me old and bent as the leaf,
Would my heart be as young and full of glee
As the brown leaf playing in front of me?

{Published in The Garden of Life, 1995; reprinted in A Cloud of the Latter Rain, 1995.}

THE ICE PICK

Guerrilla Marketing for Writers, by Jay Levinson, Rick Frishman & Michael Larsen. Cincinnati: Writer’s Digest Books, 2001. ISBN 0-89879-983-X. $14.99.

Just as guerrillas must improvise to fight a better-financed and better-armed enemy, guerrilla marketing for writers is about using "unconventional weapons and tactics that substitute time, energy, and imagination for money."

You may think selling your book to a publisher is the end, that after you celebrate you can get on with writing your next book. But "writing a good book doesn’t guarantee recognition or royalties," largely because few books receive adequate promotion. It makes you wonder why publishers bother publishing the books in the first place. To help you overcome this lack of publicity, the authors list and explain one hundred free or low-cost ways for you to attract attention and sell your books.

Although nonfiction is easier to promote and sell than fiction, and most of the techniques listed here work better for nonfiction, there are still plenty of weapons in the arsenal available for novelists. For example, you might start a quarterly newsletter or a zine with teasing excerpts from your book; reviews; letters from pleased readers; answers to questions about writing; and news about your book tours, interviews, and forthcoming books. You could even join with others in your genre to produce such a newsletter, sharing the publicity, the work, and the cost. Or, if your job requires or permits travel for meetings, etc., try to fit in readings, interviews, or book signings on your trips. And while "the average number of books sold at a book signing is four," this book lists things you can do to help ensure success.

"Writing and promoting books are both full-time jobs, so weigh the desire to help and the visibility of getting involved against the most productive way to use your time." In the end, the authors say, your courage and your enthusiasm can make or break your book’s success. "This is not a challenge for the faint-hearted. Only a total commitment to your literary and financial objectives will motivate you . . . to overcome the challenges you will encounter." But before you lose heart, the book includes a number of things you can do to uplift your spirit and harness your own inner strength, ranging from little things like writing ideal reviews of your book or pasting a write-up of your book in the number one slot on a bestseller list, to major things like scaling down your goals until your successes make you ready to meet the demands of major publishers and media.

If you would like to read excerpts from this book, see the January, February, and March 2001 issues of Writer’s Digest.

The index is excellent, and the book includes a "Resource Directory" listing publicity services, writer’s organizations, etc.; a list of "weapons" for fiction and nonfiction; advice on finding a publicist and how your network of family, friends, and acquaintances can help you; a sample media kit; a publicity campaign timeline; and a publicity questionnaire.

This book won’t tell you how to write a successful book, but if you want to make money from your writing, if you want to know how to turn your book into a bestseller, or if you’re not happy with the promotion--or lack of it--that your publisher is providing for your book, you may find the answers you need here.

{Published in SF & Fantasy Workshop Newsletter, June 2001.}

THE ICE PICK

The Writer’s Complete Fantasy Reference, from the Editors of Writer’s Digest Books. Cincinnati: Writer’s Digest Books, 1998. ISBN 0-89879-866-3. $18.99.

I’m always suspicious when a book claims to be the "complete" anything, but this book comes as close as any I’ve seen to fulfilling its promise. In addition to European medieval culture, it covers the cultures of Africa, Asia, and Oceania, as well as North, South and Mesoamerica, and it does so in enough depth to let you decide if that is a culture you might want to use.

You may want to research more about some particular aspect that interests you or about daily life, e.g. how homes were heated and lighted, how fires were kindled or cooking done, but the basic overviews are done very well. And enough information and terminology is given so you can proceed with your research in an efficient manner.

For the traditional, medieval fantasy, the authors discuss in depth: arms, armor, clothing, punishments for crimes, military information, and economics, including fascinating details, like what colors were typically worn by different classes and what kinds of animals were used to carry messages.

The chapters on magic and witchcraft discuss everything from rituals, symbolism, and terminology, to the "tools of the craft" and include information from many different world cultures. Lists of "power animals," herbs, and the sounds, gestures, and materials used in various rites are given.

There is a chapter on the various fantasy races from dwarves and elves to the Maoris’ tipua and David Weber’s Hradani. And another chapter discusses "creatures of myth and legend" from the Irish banshee to the Tibetan yeti.

The final chapter is devoted to castles and even includes a brief description of Japanese castles. Castle life, terminology, construction, and defense are covered.

The index is excellent, as are the illustrations and the commentary with them. You can learn a great deal just by studying the pictures.

If you write fantasy or medieval romance, you should have this book. Not only might it keep you from making blunders, but the information may spark wonderful story ideas for you.

{Published in GPIC, the Oklahoma Science Fiction Writers Newsletter, Mar. 2001. Reprinted in AuthorShowcase, Aug. 2001; and in SF & Fantasy Workshop Newsletter, Jan. 2002 & Mar. 2002.}

THE ICE PICK

The Art of Compelling Fiction, by Christopher T. Leland. Cincinnati: Story Press, 1998. ISBN 1-884910-30-0. $17.99.

Basically a book for beginners, this one may be useful if you’re experiencing difficulties in writing or in selling your work. Leland advises you to do an inventory of your past and current work so you can sort out your strengths and weaknesses, and then takes you back through the processes of creation to find what is blocking your progress or your success.

Leland begins by trying to explain why writers write and what it is that readers want. An impossible task, but within his discussion you may discover what it is that drives your own vision, and from that better understand how you make your stories the way you do. By knowing what kinds of things interest, fascinate, obsess, or haunt you, you should be able to use those images, conflicts, relationships, and feelings in planning and creating stronger, more "compelling" stories--ones that will resonate in your readers’ hearts and minds.

Leland encourages keeping a journal that does more than record the weather or what you did that day, but that draws "attention to things you had not really thought about, details of a new consciousness you had not accessed and elements of your conventional world you had never paid attention to." In other words, he wants you to think about the world around you, write down your discoveries so you don’t forget them, and then use what you’ve learned about yourself and others in your writing. He wants you to use what you know of history, other cultures, other generations, and people of the opposite sex, in order to be able to create a richer fictional world.

He then discusses all the basic building blocks of plot, description, point of view, dialogue, pace, and character. In speaking of revision, he warns us not to throw anything away until we are sure we won’t need it. This is a particular danger to computer users who find the delete key handier than cutting to a clipboard, or pasting to a second "scrap document" or just to the end of the current manuscript. Leland tells of the time his editors asked to see a previous draft of his novel, and he ended up integrating half a dozen passages back into the book.

If you become stuck or blocked, the chapter on "Polishing Plot" may be just what you need to get your story unstuck and back into space or out on the road again.

The index is excellent, and all of the chapters have challenging exercises to help you get started or re-started on your writing.

Some writers avoid how-to-write books because of conflicting advice. Leland acknowledges that "for each example given, there is probably an opposite and equal example. For each assurance, there is one just as legitimate that absolutely contradicts it. Still, I hope what you have read has been useful. . . . Fiction is not an occupation for the faint of heart, nor for the smug. It is a calling that, in its very essence, implies an investment of self few other endeavors demand."

This is an excellent book, and I recommend it to anyone who wants to write "compelling fiction."

{Published in GPIC, the Oklahoma Science Fiction Writers Newsletter, Mar. 2001.}

IN THE SILENCE

"Connect." I have been drifting away from You, God. I need to drift back or paddle back or just let You draw me back. That’s nice. I need to connect with You. I can reach You through Your Word, but sometimes Your Word gets in the way. And through prayers, but sometimes they get in the way. And through my mind, but sometimes my mind gets in the way. I just need You, need to connect with You. That’s all I need.

{From A Journal of the Spirit, a Journey of the Soul, by D.C. Ice, Nov. 26, 1987.}

THE ICE PICK

How to Write and Sell Your First Novel, by Oscar Collier with Frances Spatz Leighton. Rev. ed. Cincinnati: Writer’s Digest Books, 1997. $12.95.

"The whole purpose of this book is to take the fear out of writing your first novel." Updated from the first edition, this revised classic is a great book for both beginners and more advanced writers.

The first half of the book takes you step by step through the process and challenges of writing a novel. Collier and Leighton begin by helping you decide what type of novel you would like to write, and then go on through character creation, viewpoint, plotting, working with dialogue, handling flashbacks and foreshadowing, and the all-important task of actually getting started. Even if you already have most, or all, of that down pat, their advice on establishing a writing routine that will work for you and that you can live with, and setting reasonable goals and quotas that will help you finally finish that novel you’ve been working on is worth the price of the book.

Their system of what they call "loose outlining" really worked for me. Take a sheet of paper and make a list of the scenes or "actions" that you want to have take place. Count them. That’s the approximate number of chapters you’ll have. Use a manila folder for each chapter and put in it any ideas, pictures, background information, questions or notes to yourself, scraps of dialogue or description you’ve jotted down for that scene, etc. When you start writing the chapter, all the material is ready for you.

Next, they lead you through editing and marketing your manuscript, explaining about agents and contracts and telling you what to expect.

The second part of the book is devoted to the stories of seventeen first novelists. Most of these stories are exciting and inspiring. You may find some of them a bit depressing because of the amount of sheer luck involved or the number of rejections before final success. But the message is to not give up hope.

If you’ve been writing short stories, and would really like to try working on a novel, but have been afraid to start; or you’ve got half a dozen novels half-finished, or finished, but lying in your file drawers, this book may give you the confidence to get moving.

"Nobody was a famous writer before writing that first novel. . . . Everyone has to start somewhere." This book is a good place to start.

{Published in GPIC, the Oklahoma Science Fiction Writers Newsletter, Feb. 2001. Reprinted in SF & Fantasy Workshop Newsletter, Jan. 2006}

THE ICE PICK

Manuscript Submission, by Scott Edelstein. (Elements of the Fiction Writing Series) Cincinnati, Writer's Digest Books, 1989. ISBN: 0-89879-398-X. $13.95.

As an author, editor, and agent himself, Edelstein is well-qualified to help you through the process of submitting manuscripts. And even though this book covers the basics of formatting short stories, novels, novellas, and book proposals, it offers you far more than that.

Edelstein includes an in-depth discussion of the fiction market, as well as advice on whether or not you need an agent, and if so, how to obtain one. He explains when to use a query and what it should look like, how to make and use contacts, and how to approach editors and agents, and what to look for in an agent.

His advice ranges from the general to the very specific. On the manuscript itself, he recommends excluding any indication of the rights you wish to sell, a copyright notice unless your piece has been previously published, and your social security number. Along with instructions on preparing folders for mailing book proposals, he even has advice about paper clipping your manuscript. (Use a regular paperclip on manuscripts up to twenty-five pages and a buttefly clamp on manuscripts of twenty-five to eighty pages. A manuscript longer than that should be mailed loose.)

In the chapter on "listing your credentials and background" he recommends, among other things, that you list your memberships only in those "organizations that have a publication requirement for joining." That is far more impressive to editors and agents and doesn't look as if all you did was pay your annual dues.

Edelstein tells what you should put in an author's bio and how to submit writing samples, reviews, and endorsements. He includes instructions on writng novel outlines and proposals, as well as cover and query letters.

If you are looking for directions on how to format manuscripts for fillers, greeting cards, poems, recipes, or scripts; or you simply want the basic typing instructions for short stories and novels, you need Dian Dincin Buchman's The Writer's Digest Guide to Manuscript Formats or Jack Neff's Formatting & Submitting Your Manuscript. If you want to know more, then you need this book. It is a treasure, and I recommend it highly.

{Published in SF & Fantasy Workshop Newsletter, Feb. 2001; reprinted Apr. 2001.}

THE ICE PICK

Word Painting: a Guide to Writing More Descriptively, by Rebecca McClanahan. Cincinnati: Writer’s Digest Books, 2000. ISBN 1-58297-025-4. $14.99.

Description can create the illusion of reality and establish our characters, our point of view, and our setting. It can speed up or slow down our stories or provide the needed links between scenes and summaries. It can be anything from a transitional device to a unifying thematic one. And nowhere is the challenge of writing description greater than for the writer of "non realistic" fiction. "We’re trying to render and maintain a world . . . that we’ve not experienced firsthand." In doing so, "we can’t assume that [our reader] will enter our fictional dream as easily as the reader of a contemporary realistic novel would."

McClanahan begins by explaining how we can sharpen our powers of observation, because our ability to describe things depends on our ability to see, smell, hear, touch, and taste them and to interpret and understand what we have observed. In the following chapters she discusses the tools a writer can use in description and how to create the effects we want in mood, plot, pacing, characterization, point of view, and setting. She also explains how to organize the description of a setting or a person and how to introduce a story’s setting.

Throughout the book there are exercises designed to help us understand and apply the ideas McClanahan introduces. For example, within the section on characterization, she asks us to imagine what container our characters would pack for a weekend away and what they would put in it. What would their grocery list would look like? What would they put out for a yard sale?

There is a selected bibliography for further reading and study, plus a good index, and the book is very well organized.

Packed with practical advice and information, this is a wonderful book. But it is not an easy book, nor one to be skimmed quickly. You need to take your time with it, working through the exercises and seeing how you might apply them to your own writing.

{Published in GPIC, the Oklahoma Science Fiction Writers Newsletter, Dec. 2000. Reprinted in SF & Fantasy Workshop Newsletter, Apr. 2006.}

THE ICE PICK

Never Be Lied to Again : How to Get the Truth in 5 Minutes or Less in Any Conversation or Situation, by David J. Lieberman. New York : St. Martin’s Griffin, c1998. ISBN 0-312-20428-0. $12.95.

To accurately portray characters in your stories, books on popular psychology are always valuable. You can use such books to create believable stereotypes to populate your story’s background or to make more rounded major characters whether the books are on body language; handwriting analysis; male-female differences; the effects of divorce, adoption, birth order, or a nomadic life on children; or some other hot topic of the day.

This book is particularly helpful. In many stories someone is trying to hide something, and someone else is trying to find it out. Whether it is your hero or your villain who is trying to learn the truth, you can use this book to set up dialogue, to create credible body language, and to make your stories more realistic.

For example, among the forty-six clues to deception that he offers in the first part of the book, Lieberman states that a person being deceitful "will rarely touch the other person. . . . Touch . . . is used when we believe strongly in what we’re saying." You can use such information either to help show that your character is lying or to help your character throw off other characters.

In addition to showing how to tell whether someone is lying or not, Lieberman provides ways to find out the truth "without beating it out of them," tactics which may be useful to your characters whether alien or human. He also includes sections on self-deception and tricks used by people to block your ability to detect deceit.

And while creating aliens or other creatures and different societies, you may want to invent your own signs of deceit for your worlds.

With a book like this it is important to know the credentials of the author. Lieberman is a board-certified hypnotherapist with a Ph.D. in psychology, who offers programs, training, and workshops to governments, businesses, and law enforcement personnel and who represents corporations in various negotiations.

The book is clearly and simply written and loaded with scenarios and examples. The table of contents is very complete, but the book lacks any kind of an index, which is frustrating and means that you are better off owning your own copy, which you can mark up.

It is a fascinating book, and although you may upset your friends and family if they see you reading it, I recommend it highly.

{Published in GPIC, the Oklahoma Science Fiction Writers Newsletter, Nov. 2000. Reprinted in SF & Fantasy Workshop Newsletter, Feb. 2006.}

THE ICE PICK

Setting, by Jack M. Bickham. Cincinnati : Writer’s Digest Books, 1993. (The Elements of Fiction Writing series) ISBN 0-89879-635-0. $14.95.

Especially important in SF/H/F stories, "setting is a topic seldom discussed at length in writers’ workshops or addressed in any detail in texts for creators of fiction." It is not merely the physical backdrop, but the historical and cultural background including the mood of the place and time, and the attitudes and even the language of the characters involved.

Bickham begins by discussing the use of the five senses in creating sharp realism in your story, and how important accuracy is in convincing your reader. He also emphasizes accuracy when he talks about the pitfalls of making up a town or other place without knowing the factual background that makes that place believable. There must be "an internal factual consistency" in both the background and your characters’ responses to it even in fantasy and science fiction.

One thing he recommends, which is very helpful to beginners, is to keep files of interesting clippings, personal research notes, pictures, and so forth. Most of us who have been writing any length of time do this automatically because we’ve found that you never know when something may be useful. He includes more details about organizing (and gathering) this information in his final chapter. I would have preferred these items closer together, but the excellent index links them for you.

Bickham includes a chapter on the needs of specialized settings in romances, suspense stories, historicals (much of which applies to fantasy, as well), and science fiction.

The next seven chapters contain practical techniques on how to create and use setting in your story, in advancing your plot, in characterization and viewpoint, in adding ideas, depth, and meaning to your story, and in creating mood.

Bickham ends the book with substantial exercises to help the beginner and with an appendix on research sources and techniques. And then he includes "Nancy Berland’s Setting Research Form." Berland is a romance writer, and the form is for a real-life place you might visit and want to use as a setting. But I found it a fascinating tool to use in creating an imaginary place, and it quickly became my favorite part of the book.

As Bickham says, "Even if you’re writing a science fiction tale of an alien universe, you’ll have to know the prevailing attitudes there, and you’ll have to invent a history that would credibly create those attitudes."

{Published in SF & Fantasy Workshop Newsletter, Nov. 2000.}

IN THE SILENCE

I am accused of being extremely competitive and of being a perfectionist, and of course I’m guilty on both counts. I compete in everything I touch, and always have, not that that excuses such behavior. I was competitive from pre-primary right on through graduate school, and always tried to make my schoolwork perfect, not that I ever succeeded. But why do I do this? Why does anyone do this? Why is anyone like this? It certainly won’t "win any friends or influence any enemies" on a peer level, and obviously my supervisors aren’t too impressed either. Is it the result of insecurity? Am I trying to earn acceptance, win affection? Did I think my teachers or my parents would like me better? Is a competitive spirit the result of insecurity?

Can I learn to "let go and let God? Can I rest my worries and my burdens on Jesus? On Him who cares for me? Does He really care for me? Can I learn to trust God? Can I stand at the edge of the cliff and step out over the abyss in faith? Can I do that? Can I? Have I ever really tried before? Can I try to do it today? Right now? For even the next few hours? For just the next few minutes?

Shortly after I wrote the above, I found this affirmative Psalm prayer on a card and made it mine:

I will depend on God alone;
I will put my hope in Him.
He alone protects and saves me;
He is my defender, and I shall never be defeated.

My salvation and honor depend on God:
He is my strong protector;
He is my shelter.

I will trust in God at all times.
I will tell Him my troubles, for He is my refuge. Amen.

(Adapted from Psalm 62:5-8)

{From A Journal of the Spirit, a Journey of the Soul, by D.C. Ice, Nov. 19, 1987.}

THE ICE PICK

The Writer Got Screwed (But Didn't Have To) : A Guide to the Legal and Business Practices of Writing for the Entertainment Industry, by Brooke A. Wharton. New York: HarperCollins, 1997. 288 p. ISBN 0-06-273236-6. $14.95.

If you are interested in writing for Hollywood or have hopes of seeing your work produced as film, TV, or interactive entertainment, you might want to take a look at this book. Written by an entertainment and copyright lawyer, this is a frank assessment of the pitfalls and dangers that await the unwary (and even the wary).

Included are discussions on copyright--what can and cannot be protected and how to go about keeping your work from being stolen from you. Along the way, Wharton explodes many myths, including the one that if you mail a script to yourself--the so-called "poor man’s copyright"--the postmark proves the date you wrote it. She calls that "a waste of valuable postage."

She warns against discussing your ideas with anyone. Ideas are not protected by copyright.

Wharton also explains how you can avoid libel, explains what the Writers Guild of America is and what it can and cannot do for you, and defines exactly what a valid contract is and is not. (Is a contract scribbled on a cocktail napkin a contract? What about an agreement over the phone?)

She explains the differing roles of agents, lawyers, and managers in your career, and how to get your work noticed and purchased if you don’t have or can’t get an agent.

The book covers writing for films, episodic television, TV movies and mini-series, as well as for interactive entertainment. Interviews with noted writers give valuable and practical advice on everything from pitching your ideas and "breaking in," to writing with a partner and problems with contracts.

Also included are a glossary of terms; lists of competitions, fellowships, and internships; a partial listing of WGA agencies; a list of organizations that provide access to attorneys, legal information, and cheap (or even free) legal seminars for writers; and an excellent index.

Recommended for anyone interested in screenwriting.

{Published in GPIC, the Oklahoma Science Fiction Writers Newsletter, Oct. 2000. Reprinted in SF & Fantasy Workshop Newsletter, Mar. 2006.}

THE ICE PICK

The Merriam-Webster Concise Handbook for Writers. Springfield, Mass. : Merriam-Webster, 1991. ISBN 0-87779-602-5.

Adapted from Webster’s Standard American Style Manual, this handbook covers all the usual basics of grammar and sentence structure, including punctuation, capitalization, the use of italics, quotations and quotation marks, plurals, possessives, compound words, abbreviations, and the correct way to type numbers in your text. It also includes sections on how to handle footnotes and bibliographies, as well as copyediting and proofreading, and it has an excellent index.

One of the things I particularly liked is the "editor’s style sheet" in the section on copyediting. If you sometimes use the American "gray" and other times the British English "grey," or can’t remember if you "spelled" or "spelt" a character’s name "Bret" or "Brett," or referred to his "data base," "data-base," or "database," you can use this style sheet to help you achieve consistency in your manuscript.

"Designed to be a practical guide to the conventions of the English language in its written form" and intended "for use in the home, school, and office," the handbook is based on "both the consensus and variety that are apparent in standard American writing." As such, many of the rules are qualified with "usually," "some," "often," "sometimes," "may," "many," and "frequently."

This may not be sufficient for you if you are trying, for example, to portray an educated character who knows (or should know) the difference between "shall" and "will," or when to use the subjunctive case.

But if all you need is a practical grammar book that will give you guidance on the practices of contemporary, standard American English in clear, easily understood language with lots of examples, this handbook is one of the best I’ve seen.

{Published in SF & Fantasy Workshop Newsletter, Oct. 2000.}

THE ICE PICK

The Marshall Plan for Novel Writing and the Marshall Plan Workbook, by Evan Marshall. Cincinnati, Writer’s Digest Books. $17.99; wkbk $19.99. Text includes: glossary, index, sample query & synopsis. Workbook includes: index, worksheets, charts, forms, templates, etc. ISBN: 0-89879-848-5; Wkbk 1-58297-059-9.

Are you thinking of writing a novel, but you don’t know where to start? Or are you halfway through writing one, but you’re stuck because something isn’t working or you don’t know what to do next? Or maybe you’ve completed a manuscript, but you feel you need more help than what your critiquers are able to give you in creating or handling subplots, multiple viewpoints, simultaneous events, or some other aspect of story-crafting.

Marshall’s plan is not as helpful in some ways as Crawford Kilian’s Writing Science Fiction and Fantasy, which has a lot of information on symbolism, fantasy and sci fi worldbuilding, "getting the science and magic right," and other things that specifically address problems in our genres, but Kilian’s book is unfortunately out of print.

Those genre-specific things aside, The Marshall Plan may be exactly what you need. In "a sixteen-step program guaranteed to take you from idea to completed manuscript," Evan Marshall can help you organize your ideas and pick one that will work for a novel-length story. He shows how to create your characters so they will be rounded and will work in the story you want to write. Sections on plotting can help you set up your main storyline, develop it, and weave it together with your subplots.

Beginning with choosing your genre niche (and why "a novel written without a genre in mind can be difficult if not impossible to sell"), Marshall covers action scenes, description, viewpoint, dialogue, transitions, and the other narrative techniques you need to be able to handle.

For example, he shows how to punctuate a line of dialogue that has been interrupted. And how to know when a flashback is needed and ways to structure it. He even includes a worksheet in the workbook to help you block out times and places to write.

If you’re stuck on a half-completed novel, you can work through the plan, and use it to help you find what you did wrong that got you stuck. Or if you’ve already completed a manuscript, you can work through the book to help you revise your novel.

Even if you aren’t working on a novel, but simply want to improve your short stories, you can learn a lot from Marshall’s concise, clear explanations.

The plan is designed to be used in the step-by-step fashion that it is laid out, each section building on the previous one, but as Marshall says in his introduction to the workbook, "don’t let this book’s programmed format inhibit you. The Blueprint is a device to aid you in building your novel. If in places your creative instincts tell you to deviate from the Blueprint’s structure, by all means do so. . . . When all is said and done, a good story will win over agents, editors and readers every time."

But if you need a methodical, practical, simple way to plan your novel, Marshall has laid one out for you.

You can use the two books either together or separately, depending on your needs and skill level. But the workbook is designed to complement the text, and I think they work best together.

The text includes the discussions about characterization, dialogue, etc. The workbook gives a lot of explanation also, but is mainly useful for the many workforms, fact lists, and charts which you can fill in as you plan and work on your novel.

The workbook forms may be photocopied or typed up so you can use them again and again.

It may not work for everyone--nothing ever does--but if you follow it, the Marshall plan is "guaranteed" to help you get your novel written.

{Published in GPIC, the Oklahoma Science Fiction Writers Newsletter, Aug.-Sept. 2000. Reprinted in SF & Fantasy Workshop Newsletter, Apr. 2004.}

THE ICE PICK

The Worst-Case Scenario Survival Handbook, by Joshua Piven and David Borgenicht. San Francisco : Chronicle Books, 1999.

Fourteen dollars and ninety-five cents for a 176-page paperback is a lot of money in my opinion. But gems have never been cheap, and this is one of them. No matter what genre you write in, this book can give you some wonderful material for creating believable scenes in your stories.

Compiled of information from dozens of experts, and filled with "simple, step-by-step instructions for dealing with 40 life- and limb-threatening situations," this nicely illustrated book is intended to help people cope with and survive all kinds of nasty situations. For example, it tells how to escape from quicksand, survive the attack of a poisonous snake, win a swordfight, jump into a river from a height, perform an emergency tracheotomy, treat a knife or bullet wound, or land a plane. And it gives you enough detailed information that you could actually do it. Or, better yet, write about your characters doing it.

You can adapt a situation to your own world by, for example, changing the attacking mountain lion--or other wild animal--into the alien creature of your choice and using the information given here to make your character’s encounter more realistic.

Or your character might need to jump from the wall of a castle into a moat or a midden heap instead of from a bridge into a river or from a building into a dumpster.

The doors in your world may be constructed differently from the doors discussed in the book, or the vehicles may be wagons or spacecraft instead of automobiles and planes, but the facts provided here can aid you in creating authentic scenes.

If your characters are adrift at sea, lost in a desert or in the mountains, caught in an avalanche, an earthquake, or a crossfire, or just need to make a fire without matches, this book can really help you help them.
And "you just never know," someday the information in here might even save your life.

{Published in SF & Fantasy Workshop Newsletter, Aug. 2000.}

THE ICE PICK

The Writing Life, by Annie Dillard. New York : Harper Perennial, 1990. ISBN 0-06-091988-4 (pbk). $11.00.

Why do we read, Dillard asks, "if not in hope of beauty laid bare, life heightened and its deepest mystery probed? . . . What do we ever know that is higher than that power which, from time to time, seizes our lives, and reveals us startlingly to ourselves as creatures set down here bewildered?"

That sets up a breathtaking goal for us as writers, but one which we can aspire to if we choose.

In this collection of lyrical short essays, Dillard gives us a mixture of practical tips and deeper insights on "the actual process of writing."

Among Dillard’s technical tidbits, she recommends that you always use the best you have right now rather than "hoard" it for later and warns that you must tend a work in progress every day lest it "turn on you" and become a lion you cannot "assert your mastery over." She explains how to know when you are going in the wrong direction and need to begin anew, and in complaining that commercialism is overrunning and crushing us, she slams those who use "advertising slogans and brand names" in their writing "as a quick, cheap, and perfunctory background."

She speaks poetically of the problems all writers face, of the inevitable gap that develops between our vision and the words we put on paper, explaining that although we are driven to create, to write, "you cannot fill in the vision. You cannot even bring the vision to light. You are wrong if you think that you can in any way take the vision and tame it to the page. . . . You can fly higher than you thought possible--but you can never get off the page."

And in between, she tells her fascinating anecdotes of flying barrel rolls with a stunt pilot over a salt chuck; of learning how to chop wood outside her one-room log cabin on Puget Sound ("Aim through the wood; aim for the chopping block."); of working late at night in a dark, deserted library in Virginia; of an electric typewriter that explodes in her face, and much more.

This is an excellent book for entertainment, inspiration, and reassurance. And if you’d like to take a "writerly" book along on your vacation to the mountains or the beach, I recommend this one highly.

{Published in GPIC, the Oklahoma Science Fiction Writers Newsletter, July 2000. Reprinted in SF & Fantasy Workshop Newsletter, Aug. 2005.}

IN THE SILENCE

Too often, Lord, I forget that prayer, like conversation, is supposed to be a two-way street, and so I prayed this morning:

"‘Speak, Lord, for thy servant hears.’ You have said, ‘Be still and know that I am God.’ Help me to be still and listen. . . ."

And this was the answer I received, not in audible words, but in thoughts that came quickly to me:

"Offer your day’s planned activities one-by-one for guidance or inspiration or warning. Doing this is not a distraction, but a leading. Be still. The Old Testament has great value; read the lessons. Their worth may not be immediately apparent to you. I have shown you this before. Keep silence. Saul disobeyed. Rebellion is akin to witchcraft; stubbornness is akin to iniquity and idolatry. Saul tried to go beyond God’s command. He was more afraid of his people than of God. He made excuses to justify doing things his way. Keep track of what is revealed to you so you may remember and see your progress in spiritual learning and growth."

{From A Journal of the Spirit, a Journey of the Soul, by D.C. Ice, Nov. 12, 1991.}

THE ICE PICK

Making Shapely Fiction, by Jerome Stern. New York : W. W. Norton, 2000. ISBN 0-393-32124-X pbk. $14.95.

This practical book claims to be "different from other books on writing. It’s organized so that you can start writing serious fiction (or non-serious, if you like) from the first page." Intended for "people who are already writing fiction" as well as beginners, it is a clear and easily comprehensible treasure for writers of all levels of experience--or inexperience.

Written in a warm, inviting style, the first two sections encompass all of the basic principles of writing. These sections lead the way into the more complex and difficult aspects of fiction crafting, by providing what Stern calls "shapes of fiction." These are not so much "rules that you follow as ways to create."

The third section, "An alphabet for writers of fiction," stretches from Accuracy to Zigzag. It is most profitably used by reading it straight through and then hanging on to it for quick reference later. The more experienced you become as a writer, the more you will probably get out of this section, because there is so much information packed into it--too much to absorb at one time.

The final section is the best annotated bibliography I’ve seen in a long time. The works range from inspirational autobiographies to books "about the pragmatics of publishing," and include books Stern likes, although they "don’t get often mentioned but deserve to be, and books that are just too important to omit." You owe it to yourself and your writing craft to read over his list and seriously consider the books there.

There is no index, but the book is heavily and beautifully cross-referenced. And this is not a book to be checked out of the library anyway, but one to be owned and marked up with your own notes and personalization. It is a book to be dipped in and out of for inspiration as much as for reference, a book to be kept and used. I recommend it highly.

{Published in GPIC, the Oklahoma Science Fiction Writers Newsletter, June 2000. Reprinted in SF & Fantasy Workshop Newsletter, Dec. 2005.}

THE ICE PICK

Writer’s Block and How to Use It, by Victoria Nelson. Cincinnati : Writer’s Digest Books. ISBN 0-89879-168-5.

"Properly interpreted, writer’s block is the best thing that can happen to a writer." Most of us experience writer’s block, or at least "writer’s resistance," from time to time. The guilt, or even depression, some of us endure because other people say they never encounter writer’s block, or say that it doesn’t exist and we’re just being lazy, or simply because we know we "should" be writing, only adds to that stalled out feeling and may, according to Nelson, actually lengthen the period of the block and hinder our healing and our return to work. "The block is a signal to readjust the way you are approaching your work; it is not the problem itself."

Nelson discusses many different kinds of writer’s block that authors battle. These include "beginner’s block," where you face a blank piece of paper or screen and can’t even get started or are unable to resume writing after an absence; procrastination; perfectionism; demanding too much and punishing yourself for low productivity; obsessive rewriting, where you polish and polish and never let go; playing forever with notes, notebooks, and plans; fear of success; and forcing yourself to write one kind of material while your real talent lies elsewhere.

At the end of each chapter, Nelson gives exercises for breaking that particular kind of block, but the emphasis in the book is on our coming to an understanding of what writer’s block is and how our creative processes work. Or fail to work. As such, it is not so much a self-help book, with all of the finger-pointing advice often contained in them, as it is a discussion of where we are and why. And through that discussion she offers solutions, warnings, and lots of encouragement.

Basically, Nelson believes that writer’s block is a question of losing touch with the "creative child" inside each of us. You may argue with that, but the book does get you thinking about what your particular problem might be caused by, what good might come from it, and what you can do about it--all of which is better than berating yourself or sitting and staring at a work you’ve started and cannot finish.

At the very least, reading this fascinating book will give you something to do until your muse returns from her vacation.

{Published in GPIC, the Oklahoma Science Fiction Writers Newsletter, May, 2000.}

THE ICE PICK

Encarta World English Dictionary. New York : St. Martin’s Press. ISBN 0-312-22222-X. $50.00.

Words being the primary tool of all storytellers, we are always interested in dictionaries. The creation of a new one is a massive undertaking, and the editors are to be commended for doing so. By including English words from all over the planet, especially new words from computer use and the six o’clock news, they have attempted to create "a comprehensive record of English --but with a world view."

They have tried to simplify the pronunciation system which we all learned in school. (You may find their way better or even more confusing.) They give etymologies and excellent cultural notes. And to speed your search for the correct meaning when a single word has more than one, they have used bold type to draw your attention. Also, they have tried to eliminate the annoying habit most dictionaries have of defining words with other words that you then have to look up in turn. E.g., "Preservable: capable of being preserved." In the Encarta that becomes "Preservable: able to be kept safe, unchanged, or unspoiled." And they give you a sentence to illustrate. Very nice.

At various locations, charts and illustrations can be found for such things as woodwind instruments and time zones. A list in the back of the dictionary says that they "can be found at their alphabetical entry." And then you notice that "Airport codes" is listed before "Aircraft" and "Herbs" before "Hats," and you start to worry. This may be an aberration, but a dictionary should at least be able to get things in correct alphabetical order. And if you look up anything, you discover that "Weather symbols" is under "Symbols" and "Phases of the Moon" is under "Moon." I never did find "Gulf Stream." But this is one listing, not the end of the world.

Out of the one million, or so, current English words, Encarta claims to have 100,000, so you naturally can’t expect to find everything here. And even though the things I read and the words I need to look up are almost certainly not the same as yours, to give you some kind of comparison, I did my usual unscientific dictionary test of looking up my own pet one hundred words. Webster’s second edition unabridged has 78% of them, American Heritage 70%, Webster’s Collegiate 68%, and Encarta 67%.

Encarta prides itself on flagging words for offensiveness and on giving regional notes, but that is where I started having some real problems with this dictionary. E.g., "Buttonwood in the sense of ‘sycamore’ is used chiefly in the northwest [sic], from Massachusetts and Vermont. . . ." Okay, we know this is wrong. But what about a subject that we don’t know anything about. Can we trust them? An offensive term beginning with "oct-" is given the same meaning as one beginning with "quad-." We know this is wrong even if we don’t recognize the words, because "oct" means eight or one-eighth and "quad" means four or one-fourth, but what about the words we don’t know? In the entry for "Grant, Cuthbert," an offensive (to some) word is used, but nowhere defined, yet it is listed in most of my dictionaries.

Am I glad I bought the Encarta? Yes, because of the modern words it defines, its clear illustrations, and excellent explanations. Am I glad I paid only half-price for it? Yes! Would I trust it enough to use a word from it, that I otherwise didn’t know, in something I wanted to submit for publication? No, I found way too many errors in it.

It’s difficult to recommend--or advise against--a dictionary, since each person’s interests and needs are different, but my advice is that if you choose to buy this one, buy it cheap. If you choose to use it, do so very carefully.

{Published in GPIC, the Oklahoma Science Fiction Writers Newsletter, Apr. 2000.}

THE ICE PICK

Characters and Viewpoint, by Orson Scott Card. (The Elements of Fiction Writing series) Cincinnati, Writer’s Digest Books. ISBN 0-89879-307-6, 182 pages, $13.95.

Well-known to science fiction readers and writers, Orson Scott Card shares with us in this book his award-winning techniques for inventing original and memorable characters.

Creating characters is not, and should not be, "a mechanical process." As Card says, you shouldn’t expect that you can use a book like this as a blueprint for creating characters, but rather "bring the questions and ideas in each chapter to your own work, the stories you believe in and care about."

In addition to showing you how to make characters by using strangers and people you know, Card explains how to create them from within yourself and from within the story. Clearly and simply, he shows how you can influence readers to love or hate characters and how you can make characters seem like real people through their background, actions, motives, habits, talents, and hobbies, plus through using stereotypes and physical appearance.

He discusses how important it is to choose the correct names for your characters and to refer to each of them by the same name throughout your story or novel (although other characters may call them by nicknames or titles). He recommends keeping a notebook--which he calls a "bible"--for your characters, so that you won’t forget whether your heroine is blonde or brunette or whether your hero’s father captained the Viceroy or the Victory.

Although traditionally science fiction and fantasy stories, and other stories in which the idea or the milieu of the story is paramount, have not required the strong characterization that other genres required, readers now increasingly "expect a deeper level of characterization. . . . Readers expect to get to know the characters. . . . This is the fashion of our time, and you can’t disregard it." However, Card says, "it’s a mistake to think that deep, detailed characterization is an absolute virtue in storytelling." You must, he says, understand the needs of your story and know when deep characterization is necessary and when a stereotype will do as well.
The last part of the book is devoted to helping you choose the point of view needed for your story, the advantages and disadvantages of each kind, and how to change viewpoint characters in the middle of a story. Some stories require that you explore your characters’ attitudes, emotions, and thoughts very deeply. Others do not. Card explains with great clarity the differing levels of mental penetration to help you decide which level is best for your particular story.

This is an excellent book and I recommend it highly.

{Published in GPIC, the Oklahoma Science Fiction Writers Newsletter, Mar. 2000. Reprinted in SF & Fantasy Workshop Newsletter, Nov. 2001.}

IN THE SILENCE

Lord, I know they say to pray a Psalm when your heart is too full and you can’t find your own words, but I never can find a "good" one when I need it. This time I did. Psalm 56.

"Be merciful unto me, O God: for man would swallow me up; he fighting daily oppresseth me. Every day they wrest my words: all their thoughts are against me for evil. Put thou my tears into thy bottle: are they not in thy book? What time I am afraid, I will trust in thee.

"In God I will praise His word. In God will I praise His word, in the Lord will I praise His word."

"What time I am afraid, I will trust in thee." When I am in thee I am safe. Being "in God" is akin to the New Testament’s "in Christ," as E. Stanley Jones writes in In Christ.

Deuteronomy 10:12 says, "What doth the Lord thy God require of thee, but to fear the Lord thy God, to walk in all His ways, and to love Him, and to serve the Lord thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul?"

"Walk before God in the light of the living."

{From A Journal of the Spirit, a Journey of the Soul, by D.C. Ice, Nov. 5, 1997}

THE ICE PICK

Writing to Sell, by Scott Meredith. 4th ed. Cincinnati : Writer’s Digest Books, 1995. ISBN 0-89879-750-0. $17.99.

Along with advice on plotting, viewpoint, characterization, plausibility, and setting, this very comprehensive book includes a great deal of information about the business end of writing.

In the first and last parts of the book, Meredith discusses the "business facts," such as writing in different genres, the advantages of paperback versus hardback, types of material most in demand, manuscript length, whether you should write what you like or for the market, and whether you should submit a "portion-and-outline" or a complete manuscript. He explains what goes on in agents’ and editors’ offices, how often to submit a manuscript before giving up, how to tell when an editor’s comment is an invitation for revision, the ins and outs of contracts, etc., as well as things like how to avoid writing slumps.

You may not agree with Meredith’s dislike of objective viewpoint, flashbacks, and the use of dialogue to begin a story, but the man knew what sold to editors and to the public. At least his arguments should provoke you into questioning what you are doing and whether that is the best way to present your story.

If you have difficulty getting your characters in and out of scenes, bridging time gaps, or changing point of view, Meredith’s chapter on transitions is excellent, showing how to accomplish these things smoothly and economically.

His explanations of various kinds of endings and their advantages and disadvantages is also excellent, and well worth study. You may even discover a kind of ending you hadn’t thought of before. And as they say, your book’s ending is often what sells your next book.

Some of what Meredith says runs counter to the "prevailing wisdom." For example, he disagrees with the generally held view that you should set aside your manuscript for a "cooling off period," believing it difficult to get back "inside" the story, and that it is better to get the thing finished and done with so you can go on with another project. If you have found this to be true for yourself, you may want to try his way next time.

As he points out in his summary, no matter how hard we work, some of the ingredients in our stories may not be as good as they might be, but few editors judge a book by its individual components. "It’s the total effect, the total reaction, given by a book that usually determines its acceptance or rejection.... Exact perfection is for machines."

The legendary literary agent, Scott Meredith, died in 1993, but this updated edition of the book he first published in 1950 is still a classic work.

{Published in GPIC, the Oklahoma Science Fiction Writers Newsletter, Feb. 2000.}

THE ICE PICK

20 Master Plots (and How to Build Them), by Ronald Tobias. Cincinnati, Writer’s Digest Books. ISBN 0-89879-595-8. $16.95.

Whenever you mention you’re writing a story, the first thing people usually ask is "What’s your story about?" Simplistically speaking, the answer you give (if you tell them) is the plot. But if an editor asked you, could you state the basic idea for your story in fifty words or less? Explain what the central aim of your story is? Tell your protagonist’s goal? Motivation? Opposition?

When you get an idea for a story, do you know where to begin? Or how to maintain the momentum of the narrative? Plot is a dynamic process. It permeates and drives your story. It "isn’t an accessory that conveniently organizes your material according to some ritualistic magic. You don’t just plug in a plot like a household appliance and expect it to do its job. Plot is organic. It takes hold of the writer and the work from the beginning."

This book is not simply a list of the twenty top plots of all time. It shows you how to create your plot and apply it to the subject matter you choose so that your story is developed evenly and effectively.

In most stories we find that without tension there is no plot, and tension is created through opposition to the protagonist. This may be an external enemy or an internal character flaw. The tension generally increases as the climax of the story approaches, each roadblock the character faces becoming increasingly difficult, raising the stakes or escalating the complications, and eventually changing the protagonist’s character for better . . . or worse.

There are action plots and mental plots, morality plays and stories where there is no clear right or wrong, and there are triangles and duos where character relationships are paramount, but Tobias has chosen the twenty commonest plots. Then for each of them, from the quintessential "Quest" to the "Ascension" (Horatio Alger-type plots)and "Descension" (lo, how the mighty are fallen-type plots), Tobias defines and explains the plot, tells its advantages and dangers, explains how it can work for you, and gives a checklist of things to keep in mind when trying to write a story using that plot. He is straightforward about the pitfalls and gives lots of practical hints and pointers.

For example, in the checklist for the plot he calls "Wretched Excess," he warns, "Develop your character so that his decline evokes sympathy. Don’t present him as a raving lunatic. . . . Don’t hide anything that will keep your reader from being empathetic. . . . It’s hard to be sympathetic with a person who’s a rapist or a serial murderer. . . . At the crisis point of your story, move your character either toward complete destruction or redemption. Don’t leave him swinging in the wind, because your reader will definitely not be satisfied."

Having given all of these hard and fast plotting rules, Tobias goes on to say, "On the one hand, don’t force your story to fit, and on the other hand, don’t get so loose that nothing fits. Plot is the form your idea will take; give it shape and substance as you write. Whatever you do, however, don’t be a slave to the plot. . . . Make it work for you."

The index is very good and covers both the works he has drawn examples from, as well as his own text.

This is not an easy book--although the text is clear, and the tone is light. It requires attention and thought. But the advice is excellent and well worth your time to investigate it.

{Published in GPIC, the Oklahoma Science Fiction Writers Newsletter, Jan. 1999. Reprinted in SF & Fantasy Workshop Newsletter, May 2000.}

THE ICE PICK

You Can Write a Mystery, by Gillian Roberts. Cincinnati : Writer’s Digest Books, 1999. ISBN 0-89879-863-9. $12.99.

Why am I reviewing a book about mystery-writing in a newsletter for writers of sf/f/h? Because many (or even most?) sf/f/h novels contain mysteries; and although we don’t think of what we are writing as being a "mystery," it might strengthen our novels if we knew more about how to hide clues, exploit red herrings, and handle other mystery-writing techniques.

Roberts takes you from getting ready to write through marketing your finished novel. She teaches the seven "C" basics of designing characters and handling conflict, causality, complications, change, crisis, and closure as well as how to develop your own style, find a tone for your story, and construct a dynamite plot.

Roberts includes in her advice on character building a checklist that could be used for character creation in any genre. And in her chapter on setting--"Where in the world will your world be?"--she asks questions and provides advice that would be especially helpful in fleshing out a totally fictional place, such as sf/f/h writers usually create.

But the most helpful section is on plotting, which is the heart of any mystery. She explains how to provide alternative suspects and ways you might get an amateur sleuth believably involved in a case. And as she says, "Even if you are writing about the police, pros who have seen and done it all, this crime can’t be another routine murder, just another day’s work. This one--your story--is an urgent and personal quest." And that’s true whether you are writing about an intergalactic cop or a castle guardsman in a medieval horror story.

She has advice on how to avoid the plot clichés, how to organize and keep track of your ideas, and how to structure your mystery. She explains what you need to tell the reader right away and how to hide clues in plain sight.

The book is especially clear and easy to follow, and would be excellent for a beginning writer in any genre, as well as anyone trying to write a straight mystery or incorporate one into another genre. I recommend it highly.

{Published in GPIC, the Oklahoma Science Fiction Writers Newsletter, Dec. 1999. Reprinted in SF & Fantasy Workshop Newsletter, June 2005.}