​Challenge
Write the first 2 paragraphs where the only character is a car driving down a road (work on atmosphere, setting). Add a sense of peril or other interest.
 
During Thursday 1/17/2019 Marion County Writer’s Workshop session we discussed the above challenge. What we learned was vast as the topic drove to many different locations.
 
Here were a few key sentences by MCWW authors:
A road map marked with a red circle.
Flashes of lightning illuminating skinny trees in the distance. 
Gloomy shadows stretched over the hood of the car.
It was once the envy of the fleet. Long and sleek, its smooth black surface buffed to a high sheen. It bore the emblem of its maker, Cadillac.
Gravel crunched under the tires.
The engine wailed.
Wind whistled through the window, broken and stuck open.
Light reflected off the broken windshield, making the cracks look like spider webs.
 
So what things can help you write to the above challenge?
 
First, cars can make different noises, but for this challenge we’re going to focus on bad ones.
 
Car sounds:

1. Sounds when turning the tires like “thump thump thump” or loud grinding and/or screeching
2. Clunking when breaking
3. A flapping sound
4. Grinding with a manual transmission
5. Knocking from the engine
6. Hissing or sizzling under the hood
7. Loud bang
8. Low pitch humming coming from under the car
9. Popping from the engine
10. Rattling from beneath the car
11. Roaring sound that increases with acceleration
12. Squealing or chirping when accelerating
13. Squealing wheels when applying brakes
14. Scraping or grinding when applying brakes
15. Tapping or clicking from engine
16. Whiling of any kind

 
Phew, this is a lot, and a nice list of things that can make a mechanic sweat.
Road sounds are also great to add to atmosphere, but did you know different types of roads make different sounds?
Here’s a quick guide:
 
Road Sounds:
 
Concrete Roads
            Concrete surfaces are made using a concrete mix of Portland cement, coarse aggregate, sand and water. One of the major advantages of concrete pavements is they are typically stronger and more durable than asphalt roadways. They also can be grooved to provide a durable skid-resistant surface. The road noise of a car traveling 60 MPH is usually around 80 decibels, but it can range between 55 and 80 decibels along a highway. To put this in perspective a quiet living room is usually around 40 decibels, and a loud shout is around 90 decibels.
Road noise also varies according to road condition. A road with more pot holes and cracks will produce a higher decibel of noise.
 
Asphalt Roads
Open-graded asphalt mixtures are designed to be water-permeable to help remove standing water from the road. Open-graded asphalt mixes can incorporate polymer-modified binders and/or fibers which add durability over a long time. They help to remove standing water from the road surface by allowing it to flow through the mix to the outer edges of the roadway. An added benefit of this porous design is good sound absorption. This is due to the compressed air from the tire being able to escape down through the mixture. The bottom layer contains larger aggregate while the top layer is a finer mix. This finer mix has less macrotexture, reducing contact forces which in turn reduces noise. Noise reduction with these mixes has been measured at the decibel range. Most of the time this application is used for higher traffic suburban roads with road speeds above 45 miles per hour.
 
Dense-graded asphalt mixtures
Reducing the aggregate size in the wearing surface will generally result in a quieter surface. These mixes sometimes include crumb rubber and/or a polymer binder. This type of mixture gets its sound dampening qualities by having a reduced contact area as well as an increase in flexibility allowing for air to escape at a lower pressure. It has been noted that these types of mixes can reduce road noise by as much as 8 decibels.
 
Fine-graded surface mixtures
Examples of these types of mixtures or surface treatments are microsurfacing and ultra-thin bonded asphalt surfaces. They can act as road preservation techniques and help reduce noise. These thin-surfaced, gap-graded mixes have less macrotexture which reduces contact areas between the tire and the road creating less noise. Reductions can be seen in the range of 2-5 decibels.
 
Gravel
Applying gravel, or "metalling", has had two distinct usages in road surfacing. The term road metal refers to the broken stone or cinders used in the construction or repair of roads or railways, and is derived from the Latin metallum, which means both "mine" and "quarry". "Road metal" later became the name of stone chippings mixed with tar to form the road surfacing material tarmac. A road of such material is called a "metalled road" in Britain, a "paved road" in Canada and the US, or a "sealed road" in parts of Canada, Australia and New Zealand.
A granular surface can be used with a traffic volume where the annual average daily traffic is 1,200 vehicles per day or less. The noise level produced by a car on a gravel road is higher by 4 decibels than that on a road with asphalt pavement. In summertime, as car speed increases, the noise level rises by 5 decibels.
 
Level B Roads
These roads are minimally maintained roads for areas of low traffic that do not serve a residence or do not require frequent access. These roads have the biggest ranges of decibel of road noise due to their condition and varying traffic speed. No research has been done on the estimated decibels of road noise. These roads offer the most variation on road noises such as crashes through potholes, grinding on the ridges of ruts, and snaps and crashes over sticks and rocks.
 
 
Another part of adding a sense of peril is the things seen from cars. Since the focus of this challenge was peril, I chose to add a few things you’d see specifically see and smell at night.
 
Visuals:
Things seen with headlights.
Glowing eyes in darkness.
The reflectiveness of a sign.
Passing trees close to the road can make a woosh woosh.
Animals may dart by, but they will only seem to be a color and size. A raccoon, fat cat, and small dog can all look the same when you pass by them in the dark.
Rain makes things blurry.
Snow makes things brighter.
A full moon casts long shadows, but things are more defined.
The reflection of headlights on power lines making the look of little silver ropes.
 
 
Smells:
Burnt rubber
Exhaust fumes
Skunk
Earth
Stale and dusty from the air vents
Hot and dusty from the heat vents
 
 
The last thing discussed when adding a sense of peril was sentence length. This can help put your reader in the correct mood.
 
Sentence Length:
Multiple Long Sentences
Multiple long sentences make the story feel drawn out and slow. Imagine a professor giving a boring lecture with one tone of voice. This can be used sparingly to create a slow feel in your story, but too much can make the reader feel they are treading through deep mud.
 
Multiple Short Sentences
Multiple short sentences give the story a quick feel. This builds action and gives the feeling of movement. Using multiple short sentences in a row can make the reader feel exhausted. Imagine someone who talks really fast and never comes up for air.
 
Short Sentences with Fragments
Short sentences with sentence fragments add the above description with the feeling of chaos if done too much. This can be a good tool when trying to make the reader feel overwhelmed or confused.
 
A Combination of the Above
A combination of the all of the above is the most used format. This gives variation creating a natural flow. You can break in using long sentences to slow down the action and then fast ones to speed it up again. This technique is great in manipulating your reader into getting a sense of speed or slowness where needed without having to specifically things like ‘it slowed down’ or ‘it sped up’.
 

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It’s come again. The holidays. With it came food, sweets, food, and more sweets. If you’re like most authors during the holidays you indulged. Now it’s a new year and time again to renew all those exercise and weight loss promises. But don’t forget to take down the decorations. Get that January blog ready to go. Oh, and don’t forget about starting on all your projects to hit due dates in time. .
A little overwhelming? Being an author, I find myself in this trap a lot. As an author you are never “caught up”, or “ahead of the game”. This leads to a lot of stress. Exercise tends to get pushed to the back burner, so we can fight the inevitable feeling of always being behind.

Well that can change. Here is an easy program for any author to help get back in shape and keep hitting deadlines.
 

 

1. Fit a Genre
   • Mystery? Romance? Books written on the edge of two genres tend to fall between the cracks. Pick a genre and stick with it.
2. Think Bigger
   1. High drama. High plot. High concept idea. Know your extreme. You can always mellow it as your write.
3. Love your Lead
   1. Make a character your reader will identify with and love. Make them real with real flaws and real things to overcome that is relatable.
4. Hate your Villain
   1. Make them real. Make them an opponent that fits and will push your main character to overcome their flaws and/or achieve their goals.
5. Target Length
   1. Find the right word count for your genre and hit it.
6. Get Complicated
   1. Throw a wrench into your main characters plan. Add subplot. Add depth.
7. Surprises
   1. Have at least three surprises for your reader. Don’t just leave one grand on for the very end.
8. Best for Last
   1. Resolve your minor subplots first, your most important subplots towards the end, and save the main plot for last.
9. Point of View
   1. Stay in a viewpoint that best fits your character or genre. Don’t get creative. Readers know what they like.
10. Lights, Camera, Action
    1. Live in the action light. Push your story along as if there is a director always screaming over your shoulder. Don’t get boring.   

 
            What is Mom’s Favorite Reads (MFR)? It’s a community of book lovers. They produce a quarterly book catalogue, which features over 400 books, and a monthly magazine. Their magazines, available as eBooks, in print and audiobooks, have topped the Amazon Contemporary Women charts, the Seasonal charts and the Graphic Novel charts in America, Australia, Britain and Canada. Alongside leading independent authors their magazines also feature contributions from high profile mainstream authors. For example, in the new year they will feature exclusive interviews with a Dr Who screenwriter, an expert on Sherlock Holmes, and Terry Deary, author of Horrible Histories, one of the most popular series in the history of publishing.
             What does that mean for you? Getting involved in Facebook groups is a great way to grow your audience, network, and market. MFR is a fun relaxed group which is very supportive to their authors.
Hannah Howe is one of the co-founders of MFR. She writes psychological and historical mysteries. Her books are distributed through Gardners to over 300 outlets worldwide. Over the past four years her novels have reached number one on the Amazon charts on fifteen separate occasions. With her experience she is one of the top people for this role of growing Mom’s Favorite Reads. She shares her experiences with authors, helping them grow as well.
            Just recently, their magazine reached 5,999 impression, 1,494 Reads, and 103 Shopping links clicked. This could be you in their magazine getting shopping links clicked. MFR helps promote authors for free, making this a great resource especially for budding authors trying to get their works out there. With 159 followers since their start up in September in 2018 they are growing fast. NeoLeaf Press not only follows them, but highly recommends them to new authors. They have rules which helps moderate the page and also reduces spam. This makes it easy for even a novice Facebooks to follow them.
 
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/momsfavoritereads/about/
Website: moms-favorite-reads.com
 
 
 

The 12 rules of writing 

Rule 1: There are no rules. Wait? What? Yes, there are no rules in writing. There are traditions, guidelines, and best practices. Also, remember, there are still rules in grammar. Don’t break those. That’s bad. 

Rule 2: Write. You’re not a writer unless you put pen to page or fingers to keys. Even if it’s just a sentence or two. The best way to get writing done is to set up routines and habits. A dedicated writing space is also helpful.

Rule 3: Back Up Your DATA! This isn’t a rule, but if you don’t and something happens I hope you're happy seeing months of work vanish like dust in the wind. External hard drives work well. I also recommend having a regular backup that you use and a monthly one, just in case the regular gets destroyed. Also, consider online backup. This will keep your files safe in case of a disaster like a hurricane or fire where your physical backups might be destroyed.

Rule 4: Read! It’s difficult sometimes making time, but if you’re not researching current works and getting exposure, how are you going to grow? Also, make it a practice to read at least one best seller and one current read. Reading only older books or books from little-known authors might lead your style to develop against the current flow of popular books.

Rule 5: Show, don’t tell. Nothing is more boring than page after page of Doug telling you how he went to the gas station and his truck broke down, so he bought a pack of cigarettes. Get right into the action. Show the shock on Doug’s face as the tire explodes. Show his defeat when he leaves his truck and grabs a pack of cigarettes. Showing brings the reader closer to the action and the character, and can be your greatest tool in writing.

Rule 6: Edit Later. Editing as you write can slow down the writing process and could cause you to take 2-3 times as long to complete your novel. You know you’re just going to have to edit it again when you’re finished, so save yourself some time and edit later.

Rule 7: Avoid Adverbs. Adverbs can be nonspecific and often show lazy writing. Try to avoid these and find better words to convey concrete detail.

Rule 8: Murder your loved ones. Or just take away something your character cherishes. The more hurt you can put on your character the more feeling you can elicit from the reader. Granted, don’t go over the top. The man only loses his wife, house, dog, truck, and 22. Rifle in a country song. Make it believable, but make them hurt.

Rule 9: Never use passive voice. If you say there is no way around this then I suggest you study a little more grammar. Passive voice can, almost, always be avoided. And in the cases that it can’t it’s for a very specific reason. Active voice draws in your reader and puts them into the action. The risk of passive voice is your reader glancing over the writing, trying to find what’s really important and ignoring other things. You NEVER want this to happen.

Rule 10: Eliminate "was" and "just". It’s one thing to use them in dialog, but in writing there is always a better way. "Was" is passive, which goes to rule 9, but also nonspecific, as I described in rule 7. "Just" does not add to your writing. It’s a fluff word that isn’t necessary. "He was just so angry" is lazy writing. "He fumed" is more dynamic and removed both the "was" and "just".

Rule 11: One head per scene. When you’re hopping into multiple heads in the same scene it makes it very hard for the reader to follow. This causes confusion and pulls the reader out. Remember, every time the reader is pulled out, it’s a chance they will put down the book and never pick it up again.
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Rule 12: "Said" is only for dialog. Make a habit of only using "said" to tag dialog, or in dialog when needed. This helps prevent confusion when writing and for the reader when reading