'Tis the Season!

by Tristi Pinkston
That's right - Halloween was a whole half a week ago. Get with the program - it's time to start thinking about Christmas! Forget that it's a month and a half away. Procrastination is for lazy people! At least, that's what merchandisers would have us believe. I can hardly believe how quickly stores make the leap from Halloween to Christmas sales, as if Thanksgiving didn't exist at all.

Yes, I do have a reason for rambling about the seasons, and it's not just that I'm suddenly craving eggnog. I'd like us all to seriously consider giving books this Christmas season. No, they don't all have to be my book, although I certainly wouldn't mind and I'd be flattered and you can purchase it here or here or here. What I'm suggesting is that we each do our part to give the gift of literacy for Christmas.

We live in such a fast-paced world. We are becoming more attuned to movies and Wii and iPods all the time, and our children can program computers better than we can. (Okay, maybe you can program your own computer, but I can't - I'm constantly yanking my ten-year-old out of bed to come install something for me in the middle of the night.) Where children used to spend hours reading, they're now spending hours in front of screens - and even our books are becoming electronic, with Kindle becoming such a major new way to market reading material. I fear that little by little, we're losing the joy of holding those pages in our hands, the feel of turning the pages, and that awesome new-book smell.

I want to make sure that my children know what it's like to regularly crack open a new book, to be the first one to skim its pages (except for browsers at the bookstore) and to feel the joy of ownership of the story. I loved getting books for Christmas and my birthday. (That wasn't a hint to mail me presents, but hey, if you want to, I certainly wouldn't turn them down ... unless they really stunk) I'd like to see a movement back toward the simple things, pen and ink and cardboard brought together to create something that rivals even holiday magic ... the magic of reading. It doesn't go away after the last dry needle falls off the tree.

Say What?

by Tristi Pinkston

I love words and language. I'm fascinated by the way you can say the same thing in a hundred different ways. I love the nuances of words, and how moving a comma gives a sentence an entirely different feel. I also love learning new words and inserting them into my writing and my vocabulary.

I'm a little concerned at the trend I see today to dumb down our writing so everyone can understand it. How am I supposed to know what Betty Jean down the street has or has not been exposed to in her reading, and so how am I supposed to know what's safe to use or not? The trend toward dumbing down leads to lazy readers, and a backward step in education. If we're supposed to be learning from our reading, but our reading doesn't teach us anything, really, what's the point?

Okay, I got off on a little bit of a tangent there. I was about to head off into a discussion about new thoughts and ideas as presented through fiction, but I think I'll save that for next time and today, just focus on the original intent of this blog, which is to discuss putting new vocabulary words into our books.

First off, I don't think we should just throw long words in there for any old reason. If the character wouldn't use that word, or if it's one that we're using just to show off how cool and educated we are, then it obviously doesn't have a place. On the other hand, if it's in keeping with your character, or it does fit the situation perfectly, then you should use it.

Second, give enough context so the reader can get a sense of what the word means without having to race for the dictionary. I believe it was in the book "Little Men," by Louisa May Alcott, where I first hit upon the word "fractious." It means grumpy, testy, irritable, troublesome. I used it in one of my novels (not yet published, but soon) but I also showed the character acting grumpy, testy, and irritable. This allowed the reader to understand the meaning of the word by observing what was going on.

Third, make sure you really know what the word means before you use it. Working as an editor, I sometimes see an author use a word that sounds like the one they want, but isn't quite. Or they'll choose a word that means almost what they're looking for, but not quite. If you're not very well acquainted with a word and you don't know its ins and outs and all its connotations, it's best to leave it out - or look it up carefully before using it.

You don't have to keep all long words out of your manuscript - in fact, I encourage you to use them from time to time. I don't recommend more than two or three per book, and I definitely recommend putting enough explanation in the context that the reader gets where you're coming from. Let's have a little more fun with language and really tap into all the rich resources we've been given to tell a story and communicate all that's in our hearts.

Don't Throw It Away!

by Tristi Pinkston

The very first story I ever wrote was called "Sue the Dog." No, this wasn't a story about taking legal action against the dog ... her name was Sue. At any rate, Sue wanted to be a ballerina, and I remember drawing a picture of Sue up on stage, wearing toe shoes. I was five. You've gotta cut me some slack here.

As I grew up, I wrote some really depressing poetry (I think we all go through that stage) and then I tried my hand at fantasy (I didn't get very far). I believe I was about seventeen when I wrote a story about two brothers going off to war. It wasn't very good, and it ended up in a box somewhere. But as I cleaned out my storage some years later and came across it, I took another look at it and realized, while it certainly isn't ready for publication now, I could rework it and make it into something worth reading.

We've all written something that perhaps isn't as good as we would like it to be. I'm sure we all wish we could forget some of our earlier attempts and just focus on the here and now, the things we've written after some studying of the craft. But I encourage you to keep those early attempts for two reasons.

1. They serve to act as a journal of who you were at various different stages in your writing journey. They might not be perfect (and let's be honest, they might even stink) but they become signposts along the way and mark how far you've come.

and ...


2. They contain a thread of an idea you might use in future stories. If you invested any time in them at all, years ago, you had enough of an idea to build upon. Why not read through them again and see what you might yet create?

I don't know when I'll get around to reworking that old story-I have so many other ideas right now that are taking my attention. But keep your eyes peeled for a Tristi Pinkston novel about two brothers during World War I. It won't be much like the draft I started when I was seventeen (thank goodness) but the bare bones of the plot will be similar, and I'll be so glad I kept that old story instead of throwing it away.

The World is a Piece of Paper

by Tristi Pinkston

When I realized it was my turn to blog today, for a moment I drew a blank. What should I write about? It seemed my stash of cleverness had run dry. But as I sat here, having a deep conversation with my keyboard, I realized something ... the world is a stage, and we are but players on it, but the world is also a piece of paper. We can write about anything, and by using our own unique voice, we can create something that will inspire, uplift, entertain - just by taking advantage of the cues around us and applying them to our own situations.

From where I'm sitting, I can see my son's prayer rock that he made in Primary a few weeks ago. He glued what was supposed to be a tail on the back, but it was a little lower than where my older son thought a tail should go. It was very amusing to listen to this discussion - I call it a "discussion" most generously - as these two feuding siblings discussed just exactly where a tail belongs on a prayer rock, each certain they were right, when neither of them stopped to consider that rocks don't have tails at all.

From where I'm sitting, I can also see the small bottle of aloe vera gel we bought at the health food store for my daughter's rat. She has been through four pets this last year (you can read all about it here and here, although I was remiss and didn't blog when Billy and Honeysuckle died) and the latest, Stephanie, had developed some scabbing on her back. After a week of putting aloe vera gel on her back every night, her back is nearly better and it's our hope that we will not be sending a fourth rodent to join her brothers and sister in Grandpa Joel's garden. This whole experience has been a rough one, as my daughter has learned the pain of loving something and then losing it, then the cautious willingness to open her heart up again, only to have it broken again. Most of all, it has shown me the depth of a grandfather's love for his granddaughter as not just once, but three times, he has dug deep holes in his yard and created a meaningful burial place for her pets.

Also from where I sit, I can see three little yarn dolls my daughter made for me. I made dolls just like this when I was a little girl, and I showed her how it was done. She has taken the art form to a whole new level, though, creating dresses and legs and hair and angel wings and all kinds of other things I never would have even dreamed of. When I look at those dolls, I wonder what kind of woman she will grow up to be, and I remember the little girl I once was.

Truly, the world around us is full of writing material. Words lurk behind everything we see. Every experience is laced with emotion, every conversation has potential for story. Send out your feelers, listen with your heart ... and get writing.

Where Does It Come From?

by Tristi Pinkston

Now, before you get all nervous, let me clarify that the title of this blog isn't "Where do babies come from?" It's, "Where does it come from?", the "it" in question referring to the inspiration to write.

I was asked this question the other day by a man who has the greatest respect for the written word and the process involved, but who does not write himself. He told me he's always been interested in just what it is that makes an author sit down and write something, whether it's an assignment or a voice inside the head or a feeling in the heart - what is it? I launched into a rambling and probably far-too-long explanation of just why it is that I write (I don't get to talk to adults very often) and at the end, I was surprised to see that A) he hadn't fallen asleep or run away and B) he seemed to get it.

Every author has their own inspiration source, although I think it's safe to say that we don't always get our story ideas from the exact same place each time. We also do it for different reasons, although I think it's safe to say that writing keeps us all sane. Regardless of the reasons or the techniques or the methods of so doing, we all know it comes from the same place - as a gift from our Heavenly Father. All talents are from Him, and when we truly seek to use them in the way He intended, to lift others up and to bring beauty or knowledge or inspiration into their lives, we'll find that our inspiration continues to flow.

I've found that when I go through my hardest periods of writer's block, it's either because I've worn myself out so badly I can't be receptive to those little voices, or it's because I've forgotten to give proper credit and thanks to the Source of all that flows within us.

So where does it come from? The idea might come from a line of a song, from an overheard piece of dialogue, from a dream ... but in the end, the source is always the same. It all comes from the one True Source, the One who created us and blessed us to see the world in words.

Why Should I Know My Genre?

by Tristi Pinkston

I recently met an author who was struggling to describe his book. He had a captive audience - the lady stood in front of him, eager to learn more, as he fumbled around with a plot outline of sorts and a vague idea that it was sort of fantasy, but not really, and not really sci-fi, and he wasn't sure what to call it. I interfered (I'm good at interfering) and told him that it sounded to me like his book was speculative fantasy. The customer nodded and the sale was made.

Each genre carries with it a certain reader expectation. If you hear someone say, "I have written a romance," you know you're about to read a story where a guy and girl meet, go through trials of their relationship, and eventually end up together. If you hear, "My book is a romantic drama," you know that someone fell in love, and yet things didn't turn out the way they'd hoped. When you hear, "speculative fantasy," you know that the story will place in the future, generally after the world has come to an end, and with the sub-genre of fantasy, you know you can expect creatures and situations that are different from what we see in our every-day lives.

When you know your genre and you can pass it along to your reader, you've gone a long way toward marketing it. They know what they like to read, and if you know how to describe what you've written, you can help them make a quick decision about their purchase and you can save yourself a lot of pitching power, too. If your reader hates romantic dramas, and you say, "My book is a romantic drama about ..." they'll know right off the bat they aren't interested and you can move along to the next person, who probably just adores romantic dramas and will snatch up your book quicker than an ice cream cone on a hot summer day.

Your job as an author (now that you've written the book, rewritten the book, gotten a publisher, and all the rest of it) is to find those readers who like what you write. Learn what your genre is, learn how to pitch it, and start hunting down those readers.

Captain Hook

by Tristi Pinkston

I was twenty-four when I wrote my first novel, "Nothing to Regret." It took a little while to go through the publication process, so I was twenty-six when it came out, but still, my age was a curious thing to my readers. My novel was set during World War II, and a question I received often revolved around my young age vs. my interest in history. My age was a novelty (if you'll pardon the pun) and it drew a lot of readers to me.

A few years have gone by since then. I'm now thirty-three and I've even sprouted two white hairs (I yanked those puppies out as fast as they were discovered, believe you me). My age is no longer quite the attention-getter it used to be.

When you're an author, you not only have to come up with a hook for your book - something that will make them want to keep reading - but you need a hook for yourself, telling your readers what makes you special, what makes you unique. For me, it was my age, not that I purposely went out there and said, "Hey! I'm young! Come read my book!" - that just sort of happened on its own. But now I need a new hook because I've lost that age factor. Look for ways to market yourself that are timeless, that won't change in a few years or with the discovery of a little white hair. Create for yourself an image that is based on the essential nature of who you are, and you will draw readers to you because of the strength of your own unique personality.

The Thing about Thinning ...

by Tristi Pinkston

Allow me, if you will, to take you on a pictorial journey.


This is me, with good hair.


Here, the hair has started to grow out. See how the side is starting to get poofy. And ignore the silly grin on my face.


This is me, as my hair grows out even more. Notice the poofs, marked by arrows.


My hair, still growing. Notice how poofy it is on the left (marked with a black arrow) and how it's starting to go lank on the right (marked by a red arrow).



And this one is just wrong on so many levels.



As you might have noticed, I have really thick hair. It grows thick, it grows fast, and I don’t always have time to run in and get it cut. Hence, the strange Tristi hairdos, as shown. When my hair is first cut, it’s great. It has some natural curl, so it does what I want without a whole lot of effort. But within just a few days, it starts to act up, and by the time I manage to get in for a cut, it’s just out of control. I tell the stylist to go through and thin it out, and then when she’s done, I tell her to go through it again. There’s really no such thing as thinning out my hair too much. It can’t be done.

Believe it or not, yes, this all really does have something to do with writing. I wouldn’t be sharing my bad hair days with you if it weren’t for a greater good.

As we write, sometimes we add in a lot of filler, thinking that the more we add, the better the story will be. We throw in descriptions and actions and dialogue and exposition, all of which help plump up the word count, but in the end, have we really bettered the book, or are we just making it poofy? Do we need to go through and thin it out?

We should also be careful not to make our books too sparse. You could thin my hair out for a full year and still not make it too thin, but you can definitely make a book too thin. Have you described your characters enough so the reader knows what they look like? Can they envision the building or the room or the garden where your story is set? Do they know how your character feels about their circumstances?

Next time you sit down to write, think about me and my poofy hair. Is it time to thin things out, or have you hit on the balance that will bring out the true beauty in your story?

Making a Memorable Book

Several years ago, I read the LDS novel "Emily" by Jack Weyland. Emily is a young woman who is severely burned when the sleeve of her shirt catches fire while she's cooking lunch at the stove. Her recovery is extremely painful and I remembered wincing every time she went in for therapy. That book has stayed in my mind so clearly that every time I stand at the stove, I think about it, and make sure there are no flammable materials close at hand. Weyland did a good thing, helping his readers remember to be careful cooks.

But he also did something else - he imprinted his name on my brain. I couldn't remember the title of the actual novel and had to look it up online, but I remembered who wrote it. I don't just think about how important it is to be careful while cooking - I remember how well he wrote Emily's recovery scenes and how I felt while reading them. Then I start to think about the other Weyland novels I've read over the years, and the ones I enjoyed vs. the ones I didn't enjoy quite so much. This train of thought doesn't take me very long - usually ten seconds or so - but it's completely automatic and it happens every time I use the stove. Weyland connected his character's mishap to a common, everyday occurrence like cooking at a stove, something we use every single day, and so every single day, we think about Jack Weyland. If his character had been burned in an airplane crash, we wouldn't think about the book as often, because really, how often do we fly? Whereas, we use the stove often.

I don't know if Weyland did that on purpose. Maybe he used the stove to cause the fire because he wanted to keep the story simple, and having his character make lunch is sure easier than getting her on a plane. Regardless of his reasoning, the stove was brilliant.

We want our readers to think about our books time after time. We don't want our work to get read and then shoved to the back of the bookcase, never to resurface - we want our readers to become so connected to the characters that they think about them long after the last page has been flipped. How can we do this? We can't all set our characters on fire - I think someone would notice that. But we can take simple, everyday happenings and give them a twist, whether dramatic or comedic, so that every time our readers experience that common event, they are reminded of our book, and perhaps want to read it again, and maybe, just maybe, go out to buy the next one we've written. And that is a very good thing.

Get a Plot, Already!

I am a movie junkie. I'm particularly fond of the old classics and have made up my mind to become an expert on them. Achieving expert status requires a lot of research, so I watch a lot of old movies. I highly recommend choosing a career you love ...

I recently watched the 1952 movie, "The Belle of New York," starring Fred Astaire and Vera-Ellen. With two top-notch dancers like that, the musical numbers were bound to be outrageous, right? Well, they were. The two of them glided effortlessly around the stage, leaping tall buildings ... you think I'm joking, but they actually did, with the help of some special effects ... and you've never seen such flying feet. But the plot line ... oy.

Essentially, this movie is a sad precursor to the 1955 movie "Guys and Dolls." Rumor has it that Astaire wanted the role that went to Sinatra in "Guys," but that's neither here nor there. In "Belle," Astaire sees girl who is a member of a religious organization, falls for, and ends up leaving his riotous life behind for her. While singing and dancing.

The point I'm making here is this. You can have all the spangles and glitter you want. You can embellish something with dance numbers and pull in the big names to star, but if you don't have a plot line, you're sunk. How many of you have ever even heard of "The Belle of New York?" I'm willing to bet that not one of you have, despite the excellent dancing.

The same is true for books. You must have a clearly defined plot. The reader should have an actual story to follow. Wandering off into musings about the downy feathers on a little birdie's back is all well and good, I suppose, but the reader needs to have some sort of indication of where they are going, and if that part's a surprise, please at least give them something to entertain them while they're on their journey. Window-dressing will only get you so far. Work on establishing your plot - don't end up like a Hollywood flop no one has ever heard of before.

Choosing the Right Words by Tristi Pinkston

We've all heard the advice, "Wear clean underwear in case you have an accident." My entire life, this statement made no sense to me. If you had an accident, wouldn't your underwear just be dirty again?

It wasn't until I was being rushed into surgery for an emergency c-section that it all finally made sense. I wasn't being told to wear clean underwear in case I had an accident - I was being told to wear clean underwear in case I was in an accident. One little word change, and the entire meaning of the phrase changes. Yes, that was a weird time for that bit of knowledge to come to me, but hey, the mind does hysterical things when it's under stress.

The point is, one incorrectly used word can greatly change the meaning of what you're trying to say. Sometimes an incorrectly placed comma will do the same thing, giving the reader one message when you mean to give another. As you self-edit and as you have others edit for you, be especially careful for those instances where your meaning might be hidden behind unclear wording. And be especially careful when your wording might indicate something crass or inappropriate.

Introducing . . . Tristi Pinkston

Hi, there! My name is Tristi Pinkston. I'm a wife, a mother, a home schooler, an editor, a media reviewer, a blogger (both professional and hobby) and a headless chicken. In my other incarnations, I've been a Stampin' Up! demonstrator, a Nursery leader, a reading tutor, a floral designer, a jewelry maker, a babysitter, a nanny, the assistant manager at a Mexican food restaurant (which went over a lot better than the one week I spent working at Arctic Circle, but there's no need to dredge up painful memories) and a cashier at a craft store. The craft store faced full west and had no decent air conditioning except for on the silk flower aisle, which was, of course, far away from the cash register. Again, a painful memory.

Moving on to happier times, I published my first novel, "Nothing to Regret," in the fall of 2002. It's a historical fiction novel about the Japanese internment camps during World War II, but we get some cool espionage and a little romance in there. My second book was "Strength to Endure," published in 2004. It's also historical fiction, set in World War II but this time in Germany as I explore the Nazi concentration camps and the ability we have to rise above adversity. My third novel is "Season of Sacrifice," and is the most historically detailed of the three as it's the true story of my great-great-grandfather, who engineered the passage through the Hole in the Rock in southern Utah.

My newest release is my first publication with Cedar Fort. Titled "Agent in Old Lace," it's my first contemporary story. I call it a contemporary/mystery/suspense/romance/humor, but that is kinda long so Cedar Fort decided to call it a romantic suspense. That is a little more to the point.

It's been an interesting journey, writing historical fiction for so long and then trying my hand at something new. Each genre has its challenges and its rewards. I'll be the first to say that historical fiction is hard work. There's a lot of research and double-checking that goes on, even if you don't use a tenth of what you learned in the final product. Writing in a contemporary genre takes off some of that stress, and I've been able to concentrate a little more on the actual mechanics of writing more than ever before. I've learned so much over the last few years ... who knew I used the word "was" so much? And what about "that?" Right now I'm working on taking out "just" and "little bit." I'll probably even graduate to where I'm eliminating "just a little bit."

Life is a little crazy around here, with the writing and the home schooling going on, but it's also a lot of fun. I hope you'll enjoy hanging out here and getting to know me better, along with all the other awesome Cedar Fort authors at the Writing Fortress.