Thursday, November 24, 2011

Falling in Love With Wordsmithing by Jackie King



Jackie King loves books, words, and writing tall tales. She especially enjoys murdering the people she dislikes on paper. She's a full time writer who sometimes teaches writing at Tulsa Community College. Her latest novel, The Inconveninet Corpse, is a traditional mystery. She's  also written five novellas as co-author of the Foxy Hens Series. Warm Love on Cold Streets is her latest novella and is included in the anthology The Foxy Hens Meet an Adventurer. Her nonfiction book is Devoted to Cooking. She's a member of Sisters in Crime, Mystery Writers of America, Romance Writers of America, Oklahoma Writers Federation, and Tulsa Night Writers.

Jackie, it's great to have you join us here on this first day of the "Mystery We Write Holiday Book Tour." We've been planning the tour for months and it's finally arrived.

Jean, what a delight to visit your mountaintop. A cyber-hug to you and to each writer and reader who stops by. (Yes, I’m one of those ‘huggers,’ so grit your teeth, close your eyes and endure a quick trespass into your private cyberspace.)

Today I’d like to share an anecdote from my writing past. I was 22 and visiting my mother in the tiny town of Tipton, Oklahoma, when on a bright summer day, I learned the importance of revision. (Warning to authors and would-be authors: I started writing early in my life and then allowed other things to interfere with my love for the craft of storytelling. Don’t let this happen to you.) I’ll call my little story:

Falling in Love with Wordsmithing

Do you love or hate revision? When I first started writing I hated what seemed to me a tedious and mostly unnecessary exercise. What could need correcting except perhaps, punctuation and spelling? I had stories to tell and a passion to write these tales from the depth of my heart. I did a fair job of it, too, I thought. I even managed to sell a couple of short stories. (This was some time ago and the short story market was good.)

My mother, an English teacher, also wrote and hung around with folks having the same inclination. One of her more successful writer friends, a local journalist named Vera Holding, dropped by with a draft she’d just banged out on her typewriter. (Those were the clickety-clackety, non-electrical machines that writers, businesses and students used for letters, manuscripts and such back in the dark ages.)

“Would you listen to my story and give me so me feedback?” Vera asked, and we agreed, so she began to read aloud. I had seen this woman’s published work and expected smooth and polished prose, but that didn’t happen. Her story was so bad I couldn’t think of anything to suggest that might help. Her work was unsalable in my opinion. So I decided to be kind and lie. “That’s just fine,” I said, and smiled.

Mother, who knew the woman and her work much better than I did, made some suggestions to strengthen the plot, but nothing could save that story. Or so I thought. Her work had no plot; her characters were shallow and her writing seemed lifeless. But bless her heart, I thought, she’d not learn that from me.

The next day Vera came back and asked to read her revised story aloud. I could hardly keep from rolling my eyes, disappointed that I had to listen to that drivel a second time. But I was raised to be polite, so I folded my hands in my lap, crossed my ankles, and pasted a smile on my lips.

When Vera began to read something magical happened. The day before I’d been bored and even a little embarrassed by her writing. Now I was transfixed. Somehow this author had breathed life into her characters, their dialogue and the narration. The plot was still weak, but the protagonist was so compelling that I knew the story would sell. And it did.

That day I became a devotee to the power of revision. I also learned the difference between a wanna-be writer and a professional writer. Learning and applying good writing technique takes time and many, many hours of writing. But anyone who is willing to make the effort and to revise their work until its right, can master this skill.

Years have passed and wordsmithing is my favorite part of writing.

Thanks, Jackie. Great story.

Jean, thanks a million for inviting me to visit. I hope each person who visits your site will leave a comment!

My pleasure.

You can learn more about Jackie by visiting her website: www.jacqking.com

Her blogsite: Cozy Mysteries and Other Madness: http://bnbmysteries.blogspot.com

Her novel, Inconvenient Corpse : (including Kindle for $2.99)  http://amzn.to/gMv7CH

Barnes & Noble (including Nook for $2.99)  http://bit.ly/fovbLR

Jackie would like to have readers ‘friend’ her on Facebook where she's listed as Jacqueline King.

18 comments:

  1. Jackie, It's great to have you join us here on the mountain. And thanks for the good guest post.

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  2. Thanks for hosting me, Jean. A Mountain-Top experience is just what I need today. And beginning our MURDER WE WRITE Blog Tour is a perfect way to start.

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  3. Waving madly. Hi, Jackie, hi, Jean. Enjoyed your interview.

    Marilyn

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  4. What a wonderful story, Jackie. Even more so because at such a tender age you grasped what is important and used it to your advantage. Kudos!

    I, too, used to hate revisions. When I began writing I didn't understand what to do or how to do it. Things have changed (thank goodness!). Revisions are my favorite part of the writing process.

    Great post, ladies!

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  5. Jackie, That was a wonderful story, and there's a lot to be learned from it. I actually like revisions because it feels so good when I know the story has improved.

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  6. I don't write fiction, but I always feel good when I revise. To me, the revision is the honing, the putting in order of what I just poured out. Have fun on your tour!

    lilhmb(at)sbcglobal.net

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  7. Great post Jackie. I wish I had had such an adventure as a youth. Still agonizing over revisions and not enjoying it much.
    Wendy
    W.S. Gager on Writing

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  8. Hi Marilyn/FM, Anne and Marja! Thanks to each of you for stopping by. It's a wild and crazy day here in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Last night driving home from my kid's, people were already pouring into the shopping malls. Think I'll stay home today and work on the computer.

    Earlier this morning I had trouble staying online. Finally made it back. Don't know what the next few minutes will bring, so if you don't hear from for awhile...pray. :-)

    Marja, our dear friend from an earlier tour, so happy to hear from you.
    Jackie

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  9. Hi lil! I'm so happy you have visited. And I read everything! I have one non-fiction book called DEVOTED TO COOKING which is a collection of family stories and recipes. And writing is writing, and revisions must be done.

    Your name, along with everyone else who comments, goes into my black fedora for a drawing at the end of this tour.

    Happy Black Friday!
    Jackie

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  10. Glad to see you, Wendy. Some writers never come to loving revisions. Still, this must be done. Hope you have a exciting ride on our tour.
    Jackie

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  11. Jackie, when I first started, I read that it was 10% writing and 90% rewriting. I soon learned it was true and I confess to being a chronic tinkerer. It's hard for me to stop revising. I always think I can do better. This is crazy, but I've even revised stories after they were published. There's no hope for me.

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  12. Earl, You made me laugh. I'm pretty bad about being unable to turn loose, but you have me bested. Don't think I've ever rewritten something after publication.

    Of course, if I were republishing, I'm sure I would.

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  13. Jean, I just took another long look at your picture of the mountain top, and I'm going to claim it, too. It's breath-taking, and just looking at the photo relaxes me. How blessed you are to be able to look at nature itself.

    I've had such a good time on your blog today.
    Hugs,
    Jackie

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  14. It's been a pleasure hosting you today, Jackie. And you're right. I'm lucky to live in such a beautiful place, although it has its drawbacks. We were caught in a blizzard coming home from a signing party this afternoon and you can imagine the suspense driving up a narrow mountain road in a blinding snowstorm. :) I'll have to write about that someday.

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  15. I'm so glad you made it home safely, Jean. And you're right, a snowstorm would be a great adventure for your two sleuths. Wouldn't even have to be in the mountains...we have some wild snow storms in Oklahoma. In fact, there's a T-shirt now available about surviving the weather here in 2011: blizzard, flood, tornadoes and (strangely enough) earthquakes.
    Hugs,
    Jackie

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  16. Jackie, sorry I'm getting here late! Had some "operator error" problems. I really enjoyed your post, because I think there's so much power in rewriting, revision, editing!

    Great post!

    Madeline

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  17. Believe it or not, we were in Oklahoma City visting Pat Browning when the big snowstorm hit. Thanks goodness we weren't pulling our big travel trailer. As for my two boomer protagonists, they brave a Rocky Mountain blizzard in their RV in DIARY OF MURDER. I wrote that scene from experience and lived to write about it. :)

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  18. Good writers revise, revise and revise!

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