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Cathy C. Hallhttps://cathychall.wordpress.com/I write, write, write. Then I rewrite, rewrite, rewrite. THEN I submit all those polished-up words out into the world and sell 'em. It's a plan that's worked pretty well.

Finding Something Friday on Saturday Writers and Shameless Promotion

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I found an email or two this week from friends who are members of the Saturday Writers, letting me know that their contest deadline has been extended.

It’s a very good thing that friends send little reminders out to friends like me. Because I plumb forgot to post about that contest in the first place! But there’s still time to get your first place in the 8th Annual Short Story Contest. Now you have till November 15th to get your open genre story into the hands of their fantabulous judges, and don’t forget to send your $7.00 entry fee with that 2009 word story. Get complete details at Saturday Writers (saturdaywriters.org). Oh, and I wouldn’t mind another little reminder so that I, you know, actually get that entry in the mail.

And now, since Halloween is nigh, I’m thinking you might be in the mood for a spooky tale. So, creep on over to Cathy-on-a-Stick for pumpkin shenanigans. Or you might want to read Mary Beth’s Prophecy, if you forgot to read that frightening fable when I posted it in the Hall of Fame.

Isn’t it funny how I never seem to forget the shameless promotion? Bwahahahaha!

Finding Writing Rules from a Ghost

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mark_twainI’m not sure if Mark Twain’s ghost still writes in his old haunts, but I’m sure that many a writer has been haunted by Twain’s rules for writing.  And it being that spooky time of the year, I thought it might be fun to raise his words from the dead so to speak, so that you, the children’s writer (or any writer) might benefit from his wisdom. Especially since a few noted rules relate, in an uncanny way, to the dead.

To wit:

Rule Number 3: The personages in a tale shall be alive, except in the case of corpses, and that always the reader shall be able to tell the corpses from the others.

Rule Number 4: The personages in a tale, both dead and alive, shall exhibit a sufficient excuse for being there.

I think Rule Number 4 should be written in bold letters across every writer’s forehead. Barring your ability to manage that, perhaps you could just write the words across your computer screen, once every day before you begin any actual writing.

Rule Number 3, on the other hand, has been grossly ignored by writers of late; writers, who I might add, have enjoyed a fair amount of success by throwing, willy-nilly, the undead into their stories. And it’s all getting pretty confusing, keeping up with who’s a ghost, or a vampire, or a werewolf, or what-have-you in the undead department. I’m sure it’s enough to keep Mr. Twain rolling in his grave.

You can read all the rules here (from an essay Twain wrote about James Fenimore Cooper, who, by the way, broke every single one of Twain’s rules). And then you can decide whether you dare to break the rules…or not. (Ooooooooooo)