I used to blog quite a bit! My favorite posts of yesteryear are the “Pointers from the Pros” 
as well as the “Straight Dope (on Grammar)” posts.
Scroll down or click around to check them out!
Author Archives: Ricki Cardenas
Input, Please: Platform & Online Presence
I’m currently tweaking a talk I’m giving on platform & online presence next week at the Scribblers’ Retreat Writers Workshop in St. Simons Island, Ga.
It’s intended to be “the basics”/making these things accessible and “easy,” and I’m just wondering:
What are, say, the top 3 things you’d expect to learn from a session like that?
Would love to hear your input.
Cracking the Whip on Your Word Count: NoRhym-O-ReMo
First, I have no idea what’s up with the formatting of the text on this post. But I have 18 bajillion things to do today, so rather than freak out about it, I’m letting it go.
WHAT?? I know. That’s so un-Ricki.
Anyway.
My apologies for being a bit sparse with the posts as of late. My aforementioned sickness, which lasted several weeks, played a large part in that, as did some freelancing and, of course, the Write-Brained Network.
What will be pulling my focus now? NoRhym-O-ReMo
But this is something anyone can take part in—and I hope you will!
LET ME ‘SPLAIN
As per my last post, my online writing community did a reboot of NaNoWriMo last May, and we’re doing it again. NoRhym-O-ReMo stands for No Rhyme or Reason [Writing] Month, and it’s on—right now!
THE RULES
There are no rules.
Well, that’s not entirely true—but, let’s say, you make your own rules. Just write something. Every day. For the month of May. NoRhym-O-ReMo is like NaNoWriMo, but a more accommodating of your schedule.
HUH?
For traditional NaNoWriMo, folks set out to write 1500 words a day—and then, at the end of the month of November (National Novel Writing Month), they have a 50,000-word first draft of something. For those of you unfamiliar with NaNoWriMo, click here.
For NoRhym-O-ReMo, let’s be more flexible. Set your own goal for your daily word count. For instance, if you think your schedule will only allow you to comfortably write 500 words/day, fine. That’s your goal. Post it here, and have at it.
You can write one continuous piece or a lot of smaller pieces—or, heck—even just writing prompts.
And if you find your schedule changes, and you are writing more (or less) than you had hoped, adjust your goals as you go.
REPITE, POR FAVOR?
Just set a goal for yourself and DO THE WRITING. And keep us posted about it. Participants are keeping records of their progress over on the WB—and it’s hugely inspiring (and kick-in-the-pantsing) to see other folks succeeding.
WHAT’S THE DEAL WITH WORD COUNT?
As a general rule in the industry, 250 words=1 page. That should help you gauge the amount of words to which you think you can commit per day.
When setting your goal: Don’t be too aggressive. Not that you shouldn’t challenge yourself, but I’m just saying don’t say you want to write 3K/day if there’s no way you can feasibly do that! You don’t want to make it impossible to reach your daily goals—that might discourage you from continuing. However, don’t be wimpy either. Throw out a number you’d be happy reaching per day, and get those words down.
OK, so what are you waiting for? If you’re not already a member of the WB, get on over there. It’s painless—really. You’ll meet a lot of fantastic writing folks and you’ll even get to keep your first born. (Well, probably.)
If we get enough participants, I’ll be offering up a prize or two. Stay tuned . . .
If you’re looking to get serious about a new manuscript, if you want to finish/up your word count on an existing one, or if you just need a little incentive to write whatever it is you’re writing get on over to NoRhym-O-ReMo and DO IT.
*cracks the whip*
Spoiler Alert: NoRhym-O-ReMo Starts May 1
Last May, my online writing community was much smaller—and called Shenandoah Writers Online—so we had SheNoWriMo, which was SWO’s reboot of NaNoWriMo for the month of May.
We’re doing the same thing this year—only now we’re the Write-Brained Network—and we’re calling it: NoRhym-O-ReMo (No Rhyme or Reason [Writing] Month).
I’ll be posting more info about this next week, but if you’re looking to get serious about a new manuscript (or if you’re looking to finish/up your word count on an existing one), it’s on like Donkey Kong in May, baby.
The Straight Dope on “Entitled” vs. “Titled”
“The Straight Dope” highlights common grammatical errors—so you can stop looking dopey when you do these things incorrectly. 🙂
Please note: Unless otherwise specified, these are the proper grammar and formatting rules according to Chicago style—the style in which you should be writing, if you’re writing fiction—and some nonfiction. (So don’t give me a laundry list of reasons why some other way is correct. It *might be*, in AP style or APA style or MLA formatting . . . but that’s not what I’m talking about here.)
—
This is actually one I got a request to do*—which is funny because it’s one that’s been nagging me a lot lately, since I have nothing else to worry about (sarcasm).
THE PROBLEM
Okay, so I’m seeing a lot of instances where people are using “entitled” when I think it should be “titled.” What’s the difference? And what’s correct??
I consulted a number of sources** on this one because I like these “Straight Dopes” to be as black and white as possible.
Unfortunately, however, this one is pret-ty hairy. I hate that! It also contradicts what I formerly got all snootastic about—and, of course, I don’t like that either!
But, being that it’s so confusing, it’s def worth the discussion.
ENTITLED
In a general sense, ENTITLED is a transitive verb* that means something or someone has been given a right or a claim to something.
*Sorry to get all grammar geek on you with “transitive verb,” but that basically means (in this sense), it’s used as in: X entitles you to Y. A transitive verb requires that there’s both an object and a direct object—and that they both have a relationship with the verb.
In normal-people English: something/someone is being entitled and something is being entitled to something else.
Make sense? Ish?
Example:
Since you didn’t sign a pre-nup, you are entitled to half your spouse’s earnings.
(DISCLAIMER: I’m no lawyer—it’s just an example!)
Back to grammar-geek speak for a minute: You is the thing BEING entitled—and your spouse’s earnings is the thing being entitled TO something.
But I digress.
Okay, so, here’s the part I don’t like. According to all these sources, ENTITLED is also the past tense of a verb that means to give a name or title to.
Translation: The following are technically correct.
She finished her book, which was entitled 10 Things I Hate About Sue.
I should have entitled this post “Entitled vs. Titled—Prepare to Have Your Minds Blown.”
Ew, I know. I can hardly believe I’m saying it!!
—
TITLED
TITLED is an adjective that means having a title—especially a noble title.
Sir Elton John and Dame Judy Dench are both titled individuals.
To make this even more confusing, TITLED is also the past tense of the verb TITLE (duh), which means to provide a title for or to designate or call by a title.
So that means the following are *also* technically correct:
She finished her book, which was titled 10 Things I Hate About Sue.
I should have titled this post “Entitled vs. Titled—Prepare to Have Your Minds Blown.”
AHH! *hides*
WHAT HAVE WE LEARNED? *scratches head*
Basically, you can’t go wrong. I mean, you *can*—not all of the uses of these two words are synonymous—but in the sense of what we’re trying to clear up, you really can’t.
THE GOOD NEWS: If you’re one of those who feels like “entitled” should only be used in the You forgot our anniversary, so I am entitled to foot massages for life sense and “titled” should only be used when referring to actually giving a title to something sense, you’re not wrong. You’re perfectly within your right—you’re entitled (see what I did there?)—to keep using those words that way.
THE BAD NEWS: You can’t be snarky about people using “entitled” the way you don’t like it, because they are also correct.
ADVICE
Grammar Girl puts it nicely when she says that going simple is almost always better. (But I’ll admit, I like that in part because, in saying that, she suggests “titled” is simpler than “entitled”—fewer letters—and that jibes with my preferred method.)
Better still? Her suggestion of avoiding the confusion altogether by not even using those words—or by rewording the sentence.
She finished her book, 10 Things I Hate About Sue.
I should have called this post “Entitled vs. Titled—Prepare to Have Your Minds Blown.”
There you have it, my friends. Snark responsibly.
—
*Have a suggestions for a “Straight Dope” post? Shoot me an e-mail (ricki [at] rickischultz [dot] com)!
**Merriam-Webster, Dictionary.com, Purge Your Prose of Problems: A Book Doctor’s Desk Reference (Bobbie Christmas), and The Grammar Devotional: Daily Tops for Successful Writing from Grammar Girl (Mignon Fogarty)
Pointers from the Pros: Art Director Kristen Nobles Talks Picture Books
“Pointers from the Pros” gives tips from authors and publishing industry professionals on everything from craft to querying to their experiences on the road to publication.*
I attended the 2011 SCBWI MD/DE/WV’s Spring into Action conference in Buckeystown, Md., with some of my favorite-evers. As usual, I took a ton of notes at all the faboo sessions I was lucky enough to attend—and I’m sharing some of those tips with my lovely blog readers. (Thanks for being so fabulous, BTW!)
Here are some of Candlewick Press art director Kristen Nobles‘s tips from her session, “Thinking Visually: The Illustrator as Illuminator”:
WHAT’S SHE LOOKING FOR IN A SUBMISSION?
Professionalism*
- Be clean & neat
- Respect your work
- Be organized & timely
- Be collaborative
- Be communicative
- Be confident
- If you’re unpubbed, don’t send her proposals every week—quarterly or seasonally is a good rule of thumb—you have to edit yourself
Technical Proficiency*
- Master your medium
- Don’t send work in a technique you’ve just learned
- Be comfortable in your style
- Remember: the quality of your craft is important
- Learn composition! Think about it in terms of pages—how it will look on a page
- take classes—and if you don’t have an art degree, give yourself assignments & deadlines
Appropriateness*
- Your work should speak to children
- Should transport children to another world
*they expect you to bring these things to the table—the rest, they’ll work with you on
OTHER MUST HAVES
- Characters should have unique personalities
- You must make a character recognizable throughout the entire book—multiple renderings must look the same
- You must be able to draw the same character from many different POVs—must look the same
- A lot of times, the characters will always be wearing the same clothes/hairstyles throughout series (for consistency’s sake)
- Pages should end in cliffhangers—not just the words, but also the pictures
QUESTIONS TO HELP YOU DEVELOP YOUR STYLE
- What is your passion? Your interest? (If you examine these things, it can be an outlet for how your story, your characters will stand out)
- What’s NOT out there? What HASN”T been done?
- What new style, medium, or perspective can you contribute?
—
For a complete recap of the conference, see author Laura Bowers’s post here.
RhyMoWriMo: The WB Celebrates National Poetry Month
I’m celebrating National Poetry Month on the Write-Brained Network in a big way.
Poetry seems to intimidate people who don’t write or read it often (what is up with that??), and I think this is a great opportunity to change that perception and do something cool. So, if poetry isn’t necessarily in your comfort zone, GOOD! All the better! I hope you’ll come check us out our festivities and participate anyway!
RHYMOWRIMO
Since September on the WB, we have had writing challenges every month. For example, we have WordWatchers, which is basically like NaNoWriMo—except it’s a bit more laid back in that you set the amount of words you think would be feasible (but still challenging) to write in a given week, and then you report on your progress, etc.
However, WordWatchers is for fiction and nonfiction and doesn’t really work for poets because poetry isn’t about making daily or weekly word counts.
Enter RhyMoWriMo, which will be sort of like WordWatchers. The poetry won’t have to RHYME—I just thought the name had a nice, dorky ring to it. Participants will have one official prompt or type of poem to write per week in April (starting Monday, April 4), for a chance to win a prize.
MODERN POETS SERIES
Photo credit: Molly Nook
To introduce some amazing modern poets to the group, we will present a series of short interviews with a “featured poet” or poetry expert each week.
To kick off our the series, meet Dave Lucas, whose debut poetry collection, Weather, hit shelves April 1.
Dave was born in Cleveland, Ohio. He is the recipient of a Henry Hoyns Fellowship from the University of Virginia and a “Discovery”/The Nation Prize, and his poems have appeared in many journals including Paris Review, Poetry, and Slate. He lives in Cleveland and Ann Arbor, where he is a PhD candidate in English language and literature at the University of Michigan.
See my interview with the award-winning poet.
THIS WEEK’S CHALLENGE
Try your hand at writing a sonnet—extra points for a “more advanced” entry (here’s a refresher course). Leave your entries in the comments to this post for a chance to win a signed copy of Dave’s debut collection, Weather.
POETRY CHAT—APRIL 26, 9-10 PM
This month’s chat topic to be poetry. Genius, I know. But it’s going to be a little different in that we will have a guest or two—perhaps one or two of the folks featured in the series (TBA).
If You Missed the WB Live Chat on Plotters & Pantsers . . .
March 22, the Write-Brained Network hosted its March live chat. The topic? Plotter or Pantser—Where Are You?
The gist . . .
This topic didn’t yield a full hour’s worth of conversation, but it was a great turnout and so much fun to chat with people in real time! And we found other things to discuss. 😉
First, some working definitions:
Plotter—one who outlines before writing
Pantser—one who “flies by the seat of his pants” when writing
Basically, we went around and discussed our processes, and I’d say it was pretty much split between those who use at least a broad method of outlining (i.e., they have a rough idea of where their story is going) and those who are true “pantsers.”
We also talked about authors who claim to be one or the other (Stephen King, Meg Cabot & Annie Dillard have all said they’re pantsers, and we had a bit of a debate as to whether or not we really believe it).
RESOURCES
Those who plot shared some of their plotting techniques as well as helpful plotting books:
- Save the Cat: The Last Book on Screenwriting That You’ll Ever Need (Blake Snyder)
- I’ve talked about this book on the blog before, but in it, Snyder details the “15 beats” to any successful story.*
- It’s a helpful way to plot without plotting yourself to death (see my examples of movies broken up into their 15 beats)
*Click here for more STC-related resources
- First Draft in 30 Days (Karen S. Wiesner)
- One Write-Brainiac is currently working on this, and at least one other has used it in the past.
- Basically, here’s what it looks like*:
- Days 1-6 Preliminary Outline (character/sketching/plot sketches and summary outline)
- Days 7-13 Research
- Days 14-15 Evolution of the Story
- Days 16-24 Formatted Outline
- Days 25-28 Evaluating the Outline’s Strength
- Days 29-30 Revising the Outline
*Here’s a more detailed overview
OTHER SUGGESTED READING
- I was fortunate enough to hear one of our Write-Brained Network workshop speakers, author David L. Robbins, speak in June 2010 at the Southeastern Writers Association conference on the very subject of plotting. He warns not to do it too thoroughly, as the story will not unfold as it should (recordative vs. recollective writing). He recommends what he calls “baseball writing.”
Here’s the write-up I did on his session.
- Write-Brainiac and upcoming young adult author, the Diana-Fox-repped Cristin Terrill, is participating in A Round of Words in 80 Days, where she plans to write a book in said amount of days (sort of like NaNoWriMo, but with more wiggle room).
Check out her post on the topic here.
- Not really plotting-related, but Annie Dillard’s The Writing Life was suggested as a must-read for all writers.
—
Want in? Join us April 26 from 9-10 p.m. EST for our next WB Live Chat! Topic: Poetry Panel.
Pointers from the Pros: Editor Marilyn Brigham Offers Insight into the Editor’s Eye
“Pointers from the Pros” gives tips from authors and publishing industry professionals on everything from craft to querying to their experiences on the road to publication.*
I attended the 2011 SCBWI MD/DE/WV’s Spring into Action conference in Buckeystown, Md., with some of my favorite-evers. As usual, I took a ton of notes at all the faboo sessions I was lucky enough to attend—and I’m sharing some of those tips with my lovely blog readers. (Thanks for being so fabulous, BTW!)
Here are some of Marshall Cavendish editor Marilyn Brigham’s tips from her session, “The Editor’s Eye: Powerful Word Choice & Sentence Structure”:
WHAT TO LOOK FOR WHEN REVISING
- Repetition
- Of words or phrases (betas & crit partners can be of great help with this)
- Single word repeated on the same page or in the same paragraph (this is what she finds to be the most common)
- Search for these words in particular, which she says tend to be repeated a lot:
- just
- then
- so
- anyway
- even
- but
- really
- very
- “Echoed” words can be a repetitive too:
- unfair, unfairness
- though, although
- like, dislike
- Other tired phrases:
- of course
- I was like
- I couldn’t help but wonder
- You can repeat ideas as well—remember: don’t hit your readers over the head with it
- Adult language
- It depends what is appropriate for the book, age group, story, etc.
- Be on the lookout for out-of-date language/stuff that makes it sound like an adult writing for kids (i.e., HUNK vs. HOTTIE or “Being with Mike is WONDERFUL” = meh—find a more kid-friendly way to say it)
- Sometimes you should bring it down & sometimes you should elevate it
- Clichés
- Just don’t!
- Clutter
- Adverbs! (most are unnecessary—if you choose a stronger verb, you render the adverbs redundant)
- Here’s why:
“The radio blared loudly.”
Blared is strong enough a verb on its own. It’s redundant with the adverb loudly.
- Too many adjectives!
- This is what we call “purple prose”
- It speaks down to the reader
- Unnecessary prepositions:
“Slowed down traffic”
When you’re slowing something, the “down” is implied.
WHAT CAN YOU ADD TO MAKE YOUR WRITING STRONGER?
- Take cues from the genre
- In a book about soccer, use a metaphor that relates to soccer—it adds flavor:
“I danced around like I won the World Cup.”
- Take cues from the narrator
- What would the narrator notice?
- How would he or she say it?
- Use parallel structure in some sentences—it can add extra punch:
I came. I saw. I conquered.
- Use active voice:
Passive: The letter way mailed by dad.
Active: Dad mailed the letter.
WHAT IS MARKETABLE RIGHT NOW?
- In YA: dystopian
- In picture books: “Going to sleep” books”
- In all of juvenile lit: perennial subjects
—
For a complete recap of the conference, see author Laura Bowers’s post here.
In the Blogosphere: 3/14-3/25
“In the Blogosphere” is a series, which lists links to writing-related blogs I’ve stumbled upon throughout a given week (usually).
I’m making one of my resolutions to be better with these blogosphere posts. *Well, I’m trying, but I’ve been reallllllly busy!* I’ve saved a lot of great stuff, though, and it’s all definitely worth a read.
HOW-TOs
Are you in query hell right now? Author Shawn Klomparens offers five easy steps to writing a query letter in this guest post on Writer Unboxed.
If you need more help in snagging an agent, check out Trans/plant/portation’s thoughts on the subject: maybe break some rules.
Okay, so what if that’s not the problem—what if you’re just Procrastination Patty (or Paul) these days? Here, Christine MacDonald gives six tips on getting back on track—applicable to any field, really.
So, now that you’ve signed with an agent and an editor snapped up your book in a major deal, it’s time to start planning your release party. W00t! Here’s author Jody Hedlund’s advice.
Pepper . . . I mean, Procrastination Patty. "Let's go shopping for flip-flops!"
CRAFT
We hear it all the time, but it’s important enough to revisit—all the time. Here, Kidlit.com’s Mary Kole talks about specificity in setting.
And what’s a great setting without great characters? TotallytheBomb.com’s Jamie Harrington says compelling characters come from what you, the author, know.
If you’re feeling a little sketchville on how to get to know your characters, fear not. The awesomesauce ladies of Adventures in Children’s Publishing have laid it all out for you in terms of Goal, Motivation, Conflict, and Tension.
BETAS, CPS & FRESH EYES—OH MY!
If you feel a case of writer-brain coming on, author Julie Ann Lindsey suggests you get a critique partner. Lord knows mine have saved my sanity life on more than one occasion!
But how do you go about being a GOOD crit partner or beta reader? YA Highway to the rescue!*
*Not just applicable to YA writers.
RESOURCES
TONS of my writing friends are passing their time and trying to increase their platforms by submitting short stories to anthologies. But where does one go to find such markets? On Nick Daws‘ Writing Blog (Bob Loblaw’s Law Blog?), Nick himself lists seven of the top resources for that very purpose. Thanks, Nick!
This was originally intended for NaNoWriMo, back in November. However, as many writing friends seem to be getting over their winter freeze and jumping into new projects, here’s Write Anything’s Andrea Allison with ten Web sites to aid you through the plotting and planning process.
YOWZAS
Dude, these guys are so smart. Here’s Hank Green on lexical gaps—and the opposite of virginity.
Agree? Here is American Book Reviews’ take on the 100 best first lines from novels.
Happy Friday, my loves!
Any good plans?
Ricki Cardenas 
