Posted by donnadawson
on January 23, 2010 at 8:10 PM
Wow things have been crazy around here. I spent a weekend in Nashville, Tennessee as a guest speaker at the National Tractor Parts Dealership Association. What a great bunch of people. And they didn't kick me out or boo me or throw tomatoes! Duke seems surprised. Scruffy mutt!
I talked about choices. We all make them whether we want to or not. The forty five minute session was entitled 'Life is a Choice' and this is so true. For instance: I could choose to stop writing or to continue based on my feelings. Some days I feel like I'm failing because it seems that no one cares. Other days I'm sure I am exactly where I belong. In both cases I continue to write because I choose. I choose to believe this is where God wants me. So I write. Life is full of choice. We choose what we eat. We choose what we believe or don't believe. We choose whether we will rise above our challenges or let them conquer us. We can blame no one for our life's journey because we are the ones who make the final choices. When things go wrong we choose how we will handle them--or if we will hide from them. It's all about the choices.
And when I was finished, the attendees chose not to throw me out:) I chose to be grateful. At any rate, we came home to a half-demolished house and plaster dust everwhere. Sigh. My office is now two bedside end tables with my computer set up on them. My filing cabinet is--um--somewhere and Duke the Chihuahua has abandoned me for cleaner digs. He's the smart one. Have left for Tennessee with pneumonia on the mend, I returned home only to have it flare up in the poluted air of my living room. It is only now that I am really up to snuff--so to speak. So with, or without Duke's help, I feel compelled to share the latest tidbit I've learned.
Understanding dialogue is a challenge. 'He said/she said' is so overdone that we really want to avoid it as much as possible. So how do we do that without making our manuscript a chaotic mess. It's easier than you may think. Using paragraphing and actions you can differentiate between the speakers in your manuscript. Here's an example:
Jessip walked over to the coffee table and stared at the newspaper lying there. "Janeene, I really don't think we should get into it right now. I think it's just better this way."
"So when do you think we're going to get this resolved?"
"I don't know. I really don't know." Jessip took a sideways glance at Janeene and swallowed hard. Trying to avoid confrontation could easily lead to new confrontation.
Ok. So you'll notice there isn't a single 'he said/she said' in sight. And yet I bet you knew exactly who was saying what. We know Jessip is talking because he begins the action and we stay in the same paragraph when the dialogue happens. We then start a new paragraph and this indicates that Janeene is speaking. A third paragraph indicates a change in speakers and again we know it is Jessip because the action sentence stays in the same paragraph.
So there you have it and I did it all without the help of Duke. But I'm not nearly as cute as he is.
Hi Donna: I believe I already figured that out, but thanks for stirring it up in me again. Sorry I missed commenting on a couple of your stories. My computer was acting up before Christmas. We worked on it and couldn't find the problem.Then for New Years it died. Good thing Mary alerted us to the necessity of having back-up. I have now got all my writings saved. Everything else was lost. i'm back on line again temporarilly. My friend, Brent, is putting togather another one, faster and with more space on it.
Hey: Keep these tidbits of info coming. I really am learning from them.
Please visit the CD page and enjoy the steps that are bringing about the creation of Donna--Searching for the Son. This is a collection of songs from a number of different music genres. There is everything from soft rock to country to jazz to contemporary on the CD. I will continue to post as the CD grows.
Abortion--The Final Frontier
If you have any interest in abortion--either pro-choice or pro-life--please go to the page about Rescued--the next book. There is a solution. Doctors I have spoken to have asked me "Why didn't we think of this?". Specialists in the field have unanimously said, "This could be possible." There is hope for those who wish to end the war that has divided nations, churches, businesses and families. Not all will love the idea. Some will even hate the idea. But it is a solution and it is time that we looked past the war of ideals and found a viable compromise. The book Rescued--a novel--compiles the intellect of medical professionals with radical ideas to offer just such a solution. It won't be easy--but nothing worthwhile ever is.
