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Scene Setting

Published by Janet Gershen-Siegel on June 21, 2022

A Look at Scene Setting in Writing

Don’t leave it to chance. Scene setting is important to know.

What is Scene Setting?

Basic scene setting is a fundamental skill which every writer needs to perfect. A scene is more or less a species of character. Your scene needs some care and attention—and description.

Let’s look at some ways to do it.

All the Old Familiar Places and Times

When your story takes place on Earth during the present day, you’re in luck! You can get away without going over basic information. Present-day Moscow has cars. Today in Paris, people use the metric system. Current day Kentucky has telephones.

So your really basic information is already there. Don’t waste time or pixels or reader good will by explaining any of that, unless it’s somehow important. E. g. if your Russian character was raised in the sticks, maybe they never saw a car before. If your Parisian is a transplant from the United States, she might occasionally forget that most countries use different systems for weights and measures.

And if your Kentuckian was deaf and now suddenly can hear (and also led a sheltered life) telephones might be odd things which now have a purpose they didn’t have before.

But even for a place found on Planet Earth which you think you know, you should still do some digging. And don’t just look at touristy sites! I live in Boston. It’s not all Faneuil Hall Marketplace, not by a long shot. By the way, here’s a public service announcement from me. Harvard University is in Cambridge, not Boston. And it is far from the only university in this city.

This helped to inform how I wrote Mettle. Present-day Boston has cell phones, triple decker buildings, and French fries. Just like pretty much every other present-day place does.

Familiar Place, Unfamiliar Time

Then there’s the scenario where your location is close or familiar. But the time is not now. So, what is it, the past or the future?

Forward into the Past

If it’s the past, then you need to do some research. Wikipedia is not a good final source, but it’s not a bad first one. What I mean is, you can start there, particularly if you are unsure about names or parameters. But then you need to branch out.

Hence if you are trying to determine whether there were gas lamps lighting the streets of Berlin in 1740, you might want to start with looking up gas lamps and moving on from there. If they were invented later, then that answers your question. But if they were invented earlier (I honestly don’t know), then you should be looking at other sources.

You can check footnotes, or just do some creative Googling. I have found The Library of Congress has some great old images. But you may need to spend some time looking, as not everything is logically labelled.

Scene Setting for The Real Hub of the Universe

This was the exact situation for the Real Hub… series. A lot of us think we know the Victorian Era. But we don’t necessarily. Queen Victoria reigned from 1837 to 1901. In the United States, this is a time frame from Presidents Martin Van Buren (the 8th person to hold the title) to William McKinley (the 25th). The sewing machine was invented in 1851.

In 1875, Edison applied for a patent for the light bulb. So, you can see that the time period encompasses a lot of changes. People from the first year of her reign wouldn’t recognize all the trappings of life from her reign’s last year.

One way I set the scene was to only use language which was in use at the time. Etymy Online has proven to be exceptionally valuable for this. One thing I learned is that the word faze was in use. Subtly avoiding anachronistic language helps with scene setting in the past.

Back to the Future

For the future, of course you can invent what you like (and I will get into that with another blog post). But it pays to do some research anyway. Get an idea of what’s coming. If, say, solar-powered belt buckles are being patented, then why not put them in your near-future story? However, if you are writing a deeper, later future, you might want to make them passé.

Scene Setting for the Obolonk Universe

In this universe, our planet is divided into several megalopolises. In between, Earth is mainly zoological parks, going back to the original savannas and steppes and the like it was before human habitation. The Boston Meg encompasses all of New England. Rio-Recife-Montevideo is on the eastern side of South America, and so on.

Familiar Times, Unfamiliar Places

For alien places, consider what it means if the gravity is stronger, or weaker. What happens if the atmosphere is thinner? One way to make things easier on you is to research similar locations. The Andes or the Himalayas could stand in for a planet with thinner air, for example.

Let’s Go Off-World

One way I set the scene in the Obolonks trilogy and its successor, the Time Addicts trilogy, was to adopt naming conventions. As a result, every town and landmark in the Jovian System comes from rock groups. Hence, Ankaville is the capital of Callisto. The names of famous women work for Venus.

Hence, Navratilovaville and Garland City. The naming conventions also helped tremendously when deciding on other things like the names of schools or sports teams.

One idea I got (which I love, if I do say so myself) was to decide that terraforming operations are smelly. Hence, every orb would have a signature smell. Is it pine, or a fireplace? Lemons or chestnuts?

Totally Alien

Consider not just the look, but what happens when you engage your other senses. Is the place hot? Smelly? Smoggy? Is the landscape muddy? Frozen? Sandy? Urban and loud? Do your characters have to climb? Cross rivers?

Scene Setting for Untrustworthy

For Untrustworthy, the people and the scene were both so utterly unfamiliar that I needed more familiar touchstones. This meant adding a central river which characters had to cross using bridges. It also meant creating a new form of going, the transportation sleigh. A reader even asked me if Caboss is a snowy world.

And I’m still not sure! But all these alien things have familiarity baked right in. We all know what sleighs and bridges are. This made it easier for a reader to connect to what went on in that book.

Scene Setting Takeaways

You can put the reader in the action by engaging multiple senses. Latch onto the familiar if you can. Analogize to give the reader a faster understanding of the place. Do the homework, even on the small almost throwaway scenes, so your readers won’t have to.

Scene setting is a vital skill for every writer. #amwriting

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Self-Review – The Real Hope of the UniverseThe Real Hope of the Universe

Self-Review – The Real Hope of the Universe

Published by Janet Gershen-Siegel on June 14, 2022

Review – The Real Hope of the Universe

Hope was a huge theme in this book.

The Real Hope of the Universe picks where The Real Heart of the Universe left off. As the book to wrap up the trilogy, it had to resolve a number of subplots. So many subplots. Hence the first draft clocked in at over 185,000 words. Oh. My. God.

I didn’t need an editor. I needed a weed whacker.

Background

To wrap up the series, the aliens needed to leave our world. But how?

In addition, there were numerous subplots to resolve. For me, it can be hard to get all of that fixed and sewn up, tied neatly with a bow. This made for any number of issues with length. For after I wrote the first draft, my mission was to cut it by 50,000 words. The second draft (what I call a second draft is often what people call a fifth or a sixth draft) was about 48,500 words less. Much, much better, but still a bear.

Plot for The Real Hope of the Universe

When we first see Ceilidh, Devon, Shannon, and Jake, they are riding in a carriage in Scotland. It’s the 1880s, and there are strange things happening throughout the planet. Some of these odd occurrences happen due to alien intervention. But some of them happen because of what human beings do.

Unlike the other two books, I had to devote this one to far more science fiction. And so it is! Yet at the same time, I had to resolve the subplots. Hence I wrote meanderings to here and there. But as I ruthlessly slashed away at the first draft, I tied a lot more of the subplots’ resolutions to science fiction.

Characters

The characters are the main character, Ceilidh O’Malley. Also, her boyfriend (later husband) Jake Radford and her employer, Dr. Devon Grace. In addition, there is the colony known as Shannon Duffy and the members of a secret society. These include men from both North America and Europe.

Memorable Quotes from The Real Hope of the Universe

They stopped on the steps for a second. “If you wish to leave now, say so.”

“If you’ll have any family you can talk to at all in the future, it shall likely be Luke.”

“So it would seem we should stay and wait it all out. So at least there’s a fighting chance of pulling out the whole truth, and he gets my side of things.”

“Not your side, Jake. Our side.”

“Ours, then. You are my truest companion.” He smiled a little, but it wasn’t in his eyes, which darted to the left for a second. His hand on hers was damp with sweat.

“Coming, you coward?” John sneered. “Or will you stand on the stairs forever, like a mental defective?”

“John,” Ceilidh said, “Kindly don’t speak to us this way. You may have arguments with my husband. He and I are willing to hear them. But a schoolyard bully’s insults are beneath you.”

John was nonplussed, and seemed to be deciding if she’d insulted or praised him. “Just get in the library already.” The library was a dark room, paneled in oak, with more decorations than books in the shelves.

Rating

The story has a K+ rating. As this one has more Gothic elements to it, there are some occasional squicky moments. For anyone who enjoys reading Gothic tales, some of the scenes should be familiar.

Upshot

Because it was the end of the series, I struggled to let go. This is a normal pattern for me. It is quite literally nothing new. Hence the ending is dragged out far more than it ever needed to be.

When the first draft was done, it was the longest piece I had ever written. It took me about four and a half months to finish the first draft. And this was writing every day!

I hope I can write more in this universe! #amreviewing

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Self-Review – The Real Heart of the UniverseThe Real Heart of the Universe Adventures in Career Changing Killing Us Softly

Self-Review – The Real Heart of the Universe

Published by Janet Gershen-Siegel on June 9, 2022

Review – The Real Heart of the Universe

The Real Heart of the Universe continues the main story. This sequel to The Real Hub of the Universe brings back Ceilidh O’Malley, Devon Grace, Shannon Duffy, and Jacob Radford, along with the Boston Brahmins in the 1880s. In this, the second novel in the trilogy, Ceilidh deals head on with the problems she left behind in Ireland.

The biggest of these is Johnny Barnes.

Background

The second book of a trilogy can sometimes feel like filler. The last time I wrote a trilogy, for The Obolonk Murders, the middle book ended up as a means of advancing the Peri-Dave romance. Hence I opted for a similar idea. Here, the Ceilidh-Jake romance would advance.

The Plot of the Real Heart of the Universe

But there are always complications. For Ceilidh, who is still married to Johnny at the start of the book, her dalliance with Jake is a sin. Will she lose her mortal soul? For someone brought up with faith, the idea of what is more or less adultery is quite the problem.

So, what is she to do?

Characters

The main character in the piece is (again) Ceilidh O’Malley Barnes. Her main mission in this novel is to find a way to be with her love, Jacob Radford. The scenes shift from the Lowell House in Boston to Providence, Rhode Island, and then to an Atlantic ocean voyage, and then to Ireland.

Memorable Quotes from the Real Heart of the Universe

He had chosen an impeccable charcoal gray suit, for his attire from the morning apparently would no longer do. He had all of his ties strewn around on his bed when she returned after getting the luncheon dishes back to the kitchen and cleaning them. “Have you a soirée?” she asked.

“Not so much a soirée,” he paused for a moment, rolling the R with his Scottish brogue, “as an invitation to tea. Sorry for the change in plans; I had meant to tell you, but your initiation into SPHERE got in the way. Hand me that one, if you please.”

“This one?” she asked, holding up his navy blue tie.

“No, no, the tartan.”

“Oh? So you’re going to regale your companion with tales of the Grace family?”

“The Argylls, actually. We go further back than William the Conqueror and all that rot.” He positioned himself in front of the room’s full-length looking glass and tied the tie, which was bright blue and green, with hints of purple and black. “There.”

She approached and straightened his tie a little and then smoothed his light gray hair back a little with two of her fingers. “Handsome and very approachable, sir.”

He smiled slightly. “Hopefully such will be the effect. The approachable part, that is. Handsome? In all honesty, Ceilidh, you should be fitted for spectacles at this rate.”

Rating

The book has a K+ rating. For the most part, it is pleasant. But there is some violence. Language is mild.

Upshot for the Real Heart of the Universe

So I think this one works rather well as a bridge story between introducing the storyline and then ending it.

One of the biggest issues with this series is the need for more science fiction in it. As it is, often the series can feel like a historical novel with some science fiction thrown into it. Yet one thing I need to do is describe Ceilidh’s life and world, as they just aren’t as well-known as readers may think.

The Victorian era may be interesting to people, but it doesn’t mean they know too much about it. So some of my writing has been to deal head on with any misconceptions.

The real heart of the universe is Ceilidh herself. #amreviewing

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Self-Review – The Real Hub of the UniverseThe Real Hub of the Universe

Self-Review – The Real Hub of the Universe

Published by Janet Gershen-Siegel on June 7, 2022

Review – The Real Hub of the Universe

The Real Hub of the Universe tells the story of Ceilidh O’Malley Barnes, who leaves her abusive husband and runs off to America. So it’s 1876, and she works as a scullery maid, disguising her heritage with a put-on English accent and a fake name, Kay Lee Charles.

Background

One of my favorite time periods is the Victorian era. But there are still so few films which deal with it. More likely, you get something about England or the like. Yet there are not so many about America.

I also love science fiction. And so one day I got the idea – aha! – I would combine the two.

So far as I am aware, this is a more or less unique idea (yes, I know about Star Trek: The Next Generation characters going to see Mark Twain).

Plot of the Real Hub of the Universe

When Ceilidh leaves Ireland, she knows absolutely no one. She ends up as a charity case on a freighter, where there is a mysterious first mate who wears only black and never smiles.

When the ship lands in Boston, it’s July 4—the Centennial. But nothing is open and there is no place for her to go.

But through pluck and luck, and by shedding her Irish name and putting on a fake British accent, she lands a job with the wealthy Edwards family.

She endures a lot of the standard indignities of the women of her time, including being paid less and being what we would now call sexually harassed.

She also notices the master of the house conducts meetings with some sort of society. Then he taps her to serve the society’s meetings, which are attended by the luminaries of the day – Ralph Waldo Emerson, Amos Bronson Alcott, Henry Brooks Adams, Judge John Lowell, and George Walker Weld.

After being mistreated by the mistress of the house one too many times, Ceilidh lands a job with Lowell. And then a mysterious visitor arrives, who says nearly nothing and hides his face. More worryingly, he immediately figures out she is not English. What’s she to do?

Characters

So the main character in the piece is Ceilidh O’Malley Barnes. Her twin impulses are to escape her abusive husband and to find work, and a lot of the story centers around that. The scenes shift from Ireland to England to the open Atlantic Ocean and then Boston, first at the Winthrop Edwards house, and then at the Judge John Lowell house.

For this book, she meets and befriends Frances Miller, her absolute bestie.

And, to explain why such a woman would leave Ireland and everything she ever knew, I wrote the prequel, The East Side of the Universe.

Memorable Quotes from The Real Hub of the Universe

There was a cackling sound not too far away. Someone was, maybe, having a glorious time, but it sounded unnatural, and a little forced. “What’s that?”

“That might be one of those things you shouldn’t be seein’.” Ned finished tying Phoebe’s reins to a post and picked up both parcels. “Over there, I think.” He inclined his head in the direction of where the smell of fish was stronger.

The two of them walked over and there was nearly no light beyond what the moon and stars could afford. A few small gas lamps were too far apart to be useful unless a person got really close to one of them. The tide lapped against the wooden docks and Ceilidh feared that either or both of them might fall in. She about jumped out of her skin when someone pulled the hem of her dress. “Who’s there?”

“What?” asked Ned. He had apparently not seen or felt anything.

Ceilidh bent down. It was a little girl, maybe three years old. Four? “Are you lost?” Ceilidh asked, although she had no idea how she could help a child in such an unfamiliar place.

“Have you a ha’-penny?” the little girl asked, her brogue thicker than Ceilidh’s or Ned’s.

“Where’s your Mam?” Ceilidh asked.

“Don’t, Cousin.”

“Why not?” Ceilidh straightened up for a moment.

“Because they will rob you.”

“I,” Ceilidh sighed. “Maybe if I’m not a stranger.” She bent down again. “I’m Ceilidh. What’s your name?”

“Siobhan.”

“Well, that’s a rather pretty name. Where’s your Mam, Siobhan?” The little girl just turned and pointed in the direction from where the cackling had come. In the dim light, something insect-like scurried in Siobhan’s hair. Instinctively, Ceilidh sprang back. “Oh, my!”

Rating

The book has a K+ rating. While the language is extremely proper to a fault, there are some swear words. There are also a few disturbing scenes.

Upshot

So I truly loved writing this series. It was great fun! Ceilidh’s character journey was a revelation to me. I always wanted her to make it somehow, but I was unsure of what that was going to be when I started. Stay tuned to find out just what that was.

Welcome to the Real Hub of the Universe #amwriting

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What’s the Perfect Chapter Length?NaNoWriMo, writing, chapter length, how do I write a book, Plotting 101, NaNoWriMo Advice, RIP NaNoWriMo

What’s the Perfect Chapter Length?

Published by Janet Gershen-Siegel on June 2, 2022

Considering Chapter Length

Ah, chapter length, the place that bogs down so many writers. “What’s an ideal chapter length?” Or they might ask, “How long should a chapter be?” Of course, asking such questions can be an avoidance mechanism so you don’t actually have to write the blasted thing. Hmmm….

So, I have often told people: the ideal chapter length is whatever you are writing. But maybe that’s not quite right?

Don’t worry. I’ll explain.

Talking About Chapters

So, the bottom line is, we need to first talk about writing chapters.

What are chapters? Wikipedia (not always the best source but this is fine) says:

A chapter (capitula in Latin; sommaires in French) is any of the main thematic divisions within a writing of relative length, such as a book of prose, poetry, or law. A chapter book may have multiple chapters that respectively comprise discrete topics or themes. In each case, chapters can be numbered, titled, or both.

Er, okay.

So, what we are talking about here is quite simply a piece of a larger work.

Often, it is a discrete bit of the story, whether it’s a scene or a day or one character’s point of view. But it doesn’t have to be perfectly, tidily wrapped up at the end. And, in fact, it should not be. I’ll explain further down.

Starting a Chapter

I have started chapters (beyond the first one, which is different) in any number of ways. So, here’s the current first paragraph of the second chapter of The Obolonk Murders:

The HQ was a large, nondescript governmental building, much in the style of governmental buildings for decades, if not centuries. It had once been Boston’s City Hall. The office was bustling but they bypassed all of that as Peri led the way to Dolan’s office. Dolan was there, in all his five hundred pounds of glory. “Ah, Detective Sergeant Martin! And you brought Detective, er, why don’t you close the door and we can talk?”

Peri is a cop in the future, and has just gotten her non-human partner. The initial purpose of this chapter is obvious from the first paragraph. It’s to get her and her new partner to headquarters. I introduce new characters (such as Dennis Dolan) and it seems pretty obvious that the characters will talk about the case.

Which they do a bit. But since the chapter has more than one scene, it also switches over to Peri’s high rise apartment. So, does a chapter have to cover more than one scene? Not necessarily.

But if you move from scene to scene, you’ll either need transitional language or a scene break. Usually three asterisks (***) works best. I’ve never liked the idea of just adding a second empty line. If you read a piece on mobile, that subtlety might not carry over. But three asterisks are pretty obvious.

So, What is the Chapter Length of That One?

Right now, it’s 3,538 words, and runs for a good 20 pages. But the line spacing is odd on that one and I need to fix it. I suspect it’s really closer to 13 – 15 pages, maybe fewer. And I know I need to edit it.

But the chapter covers some good ground. They meet Dennis and talk about the case. The computers at HQ are attacked and Peri hears from a terrorist for the first time. Then, she and her robot partner go to her apartment which they find has been ransacked.

The scenes move along at a decent clip, and I like them all together like this. But like I said, I have to edit it. Still, I like the frenetic pace. It runs from a sit-down meet and greet to eventually Peri getting angry about what’s happened to her home. Hence, within this chapter, Peri transitions from semi-overconfident to having the case personally affect her.

How Does This Chapter End?

The final paragraph is:

“Yeah,” she nodded. “C’mon, we’re going to a motel. We can get this cleaned this up later. But let me toss a few things down the laundry chute. I’ll need some clothes soon.”

Much like Peri throws her clothes down a chute, the end of this paragraph has one purpose. That purpose is to start the reader down a chute. Where’s the end of the chute? Why, it’s in the first paragraph of Chapter 3, of course.

Teasing the Next Chapter as a Part of Chapter Length

Can’t recall where I heard this, but chapters should be like teasing your annoying little brother. That is, you keep the absolute end just out of reach and don’t add it until the next one. Think of it like movie posters and book covers for romance, where the couple is just about to kiss.

Of course, this is particularly key when you are ending Book 1 and need to get the reader interested in Book 2, its sequel. If you’re not writing a standalone, you have got to make getting to the next book irresistible to the reader. This does not necessarily mean writing a cliffhanger, although that should not be utterly off the table.

In a way, it’s like a call to action when you write advertising. What’s the action you want your reader to take? It’s to be so drawn in and so curious about what happens next that they can’t wait to order (or preorder) the next book in the series

Without getting into spoiler territory, this book ends with Peri becoming overconfident again. And at the last moment, she’s knocked down several pegs. The book comes full circle, and the reader should be (I hope!) invested enough to want to get to Book 2, The Polymer Beat.

Genres and Chapter Length

When it comes to chapter length,  a chapter still should be the best length for serving the story. But there are some caveats to this.

There are genre-related numbers but they are guidelines.  Still, paying attention to that is a part of better serving your audience/market. And why do we want to better serve our readers? Because it makes them want to continue reading! And, let’s face it, buying our stellar prose.

So, think about the standard pacing within your genre. A mystery or a thriller tends to have short chapters because the pacing needs to be tight. But for fantasy, you’ve got some room to spread out. Science fiction tends to run to the longer side of things but mixes things up.

Describing a sci fi world may mean a lot of detail. Hence, a longer chapter length. But a fight scene, if it’s the only thing in a chapter, will likely have to be snappy and quick.

What Happens When Chapter Length is Too Long?

All of this gets me back to chapter endings.  Ending chapters with a little bit that isn’t said can also serve as a model for writing all of a chapter. When your chapter length is too damned long, consider the following:

Maybe you’re explaining things too much.  Maybe your characters are too slow to make decisions, and it’s bogging down the action. Or maybe you’ve got a character who you can do without.

Consider how NaNoWriMo can also affect how we write. I know it affects my own work. Wanting to make word count at all costs can mean front loading a book. It can also mean oppressive dialogue and extra characters. Meandering is great for word count. But it also adds to chapter length. And it’s often the kind of addition that isn’t necessary.

Arguments. Descriptions. Directions. Side trips. Detours. Virtually any book will be better if you cut these down. And maybe even eliminate some of them. Also, consider the fluff of normal speech. We hesitate with er, em, huh, etc. And we also say please and thank you a lot. A polite character is one thing. But you don’t need to underscore their good manners on every page.

Keep your characters and their conversations from meandering, too. You and I might cover several topics when we speak, either in person or online. Real life is rarely in such a rigidly straight line, after all.

But your characters? You can focus them. And if you think a character is now impolite, there’s no reason why you can’t use a body language attribution and have them nod their thanks. Or use the occasion of a ‘please’ or a ‘thank you’ as a moment that serves the plot.

For example, Peri Martin continually thanks robots, even though they keep telling her that it’s unnecessary. And when a robot fails to reject gratitude, it’s a sign that there’s something up. Something that is not so good at all.

What Happens When Chapter Length is Too Short?

Well, you might just be okay. But consider this. If a chapter or any other part of a book feels too short, why is that so? It could mean you’re glossing over explanations. And it could mean you’re not doing the heavy lifting of description. Do you need to describe present-day Detroit in excruciating detail? Probably not. But 2528 Callisto? You’d better believe you need to show this to your readers.

So, consider the shortening ideas above. But this time, in reverse. Do characters make decisions too quickly? Are descriptors too straightforward? Do directions and journeys always go in a perfectly straight line?

Or you could see if you’d do better to combine two chapters. Another idea is: do nothing. That’s right. Nada! And it may just turn out to be the best thing you can do.

After all, Kurt Vonnegut got away with some ridiculously short chapters in Cat’s Cradle. But then again, neither you nor I are him, alas.

Chapter Length and Serving Your Readers

And one more quick thing.  Think about how so many of us are pressed for time. A lot of people read while commuting or right before bed.  In both cases,  shorter chapters can serve the reader better—long as many of them end with a chute to push the reader to the next chapter.

Maybe your reader will stay up to read another chapter. Or they’ll be so excited that they’ll think about it all day and then start up again once they get home or the work day ends.

So, don’t get caught up quite so much on how long your chapters end up being. Readers will be a lot more forgiving than you may think, so long as the story is good. Care a lot more about how they start, how they end, and the stuff that you put into the middle.

Chapter length perfection can be fleeting…. #amwriting

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Self-Review – Your Call is Very Important to UsShort Stories, Road, My Aliens, Last Patient, interview, Surprises, Props, shipwrecked, child, Killing Us Softly, Ditte, Band, three minutes, Longest Night Watch, Nothing Good Ever Happens, Complications, Your Call, Darkness into Light, canaries, gentrification, Cynthia, True Believer, Short Stories, Wilder Bloom, Dish, Gentrification, Mitalisque, kitten, Last Try, Minnesota Wish, Dominick and Angela, Alix, Alix’s Apocalypse, A Chance Encounter in Time, A Crime in Time, A Show for the Galaxy, Aenor the Wanted, Alien Justice, And the Band Played the Apocalypse, Babel 2.0, Back, Front, and Side Pages, Camp, Courier to the Soviets, Frozen Assets, Julie's Dollar, Mandy Goes to Aspen, Martin's Choice, Mike’s Grades, Out of the Work Camp Frying Pan, Saddle Up, Bank Teller, Sarah’s Invention, Small Acts of Defiance, The Future Has No Foundation, The Ides of the Secretarial Pool, Unexpected Help, You Will Drink Your Coffee and Like It, Unreliable, East Side of the Universe, Eros vs Thanatos, Dust Between Our Stars, A Show for the Galaxy, A Fairy Tale for Skeptical Adults, A School for Scavengers, Frozen Assets, Out of the Work Camp Frying Pan, 1960s Temporal Crimes, Lizzie Borden is Vital to the Timeline, Walls Came Tumbling Down Again, The End,

Self-Review – Your Call is Very Important to Us

Published by Janet Gershen-Siegel on May 26, 2022

Your Call is Very Important to Us – a Look at a Short Story

Your Call is Very Important to Us comes from a general concept of ‘the world turned upside-down’. I wrote this short story for the third volume of The Longest Night Watch. All of the proceeds will go to the Alzheimer’s Association. So that is, if we ever publish it.

I never name the narrator in ‘Your Call’. The reader just gets her husband’s name, Milo.

Background

The world has gone to hell in a handbasket, and we’ve dropped the bomb. And so has our unnamed other side. There’s devastation. No one and nothing will survive.

Enter our characters.

As the narrator says, her husband was a doomsday prepper. And while everyone thought he was nuts, they were okay even as the world came to an end.

So who’s sorry now?

But our narrator’s got one big problem. She’s bored out of her mind.

Plot for Your Call…

With nothing to do but read, eat, and fool around, the narrator and her husband are at the ends of their tethers. They are older people—there aren’t going to be any children. So they are not going to repopulate the earth.

The one break to the monotony comes in the form of something you and I both hate – automated telemarketer calls.

Of course, a ringing telephone in the middle of nuclear devastation is a cause for concern, wonder, hope, and fear. I will admit that a part of the idea came from Ray Bradbury’s classic Martian Chronicles story, The Silent Towns.

Characters in Your Call…

The only characters, apart from people the narrator talks to on the phone who may or may not still be alive, are the narrator and her husband, Milo. Milo never speaks and neither does the narrator. All the reader gets are her rambling, wacky thoughts, presumably in writing.

Memorable Quotes

When the bombs dropped, we were already ensconced in our shelter. Milo built it. Milo’s my husband. He was one of those doomsday preppers. People used to say he was crazy. But they’re not saying it now. Why not? Because they’re probably all dead. If the radiation and heat won’t get you, the germ warfare will, Milo says.

We live just outside of Henderson, Nevada. It’s near Las Vegas, or at least it was. I’m not so sure what’s up there anymore. It’s probably not much.

Rating

This story has a K+ rating. While the one sex scene takes place off screen (as it were), the backdrop is nuclear war, and of course that’s upsetting.

Upshot

So, one very big issue is that the volume has been delayed for what I believe is coming upon years. Yes, really. The story has been in limbo for—I believe—over four years. So will it ever be published? Right now, I’ve got to say, I have my doubts. Big, big doubts. And that’s unfortunate, because I really love this story. And I love the charity and the group. But I suppose we’ve got … issues.

Your call is very important to us — even after the end of the world. #amwriting

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How to Leverage Writing Mental Energy

Published by Janet Gershen-Siegel on May 24, 2022

Mental Energy and the Art and Science of Writing

There is a certain degree of mental energy that goes into writing. It is a form of labor, and people should respect it as such.

But hold up. Let’s go back for a second.

What is Mental Energy?

The National Institutes of Health (!) says:

Mental energy is a mood, but can also be defined as ability or willingness to engage in cognitive work. 

So, essentially, what I am talking about is the cerebral labor of writing. That is, as opposed to writing about it.

It’s Like Pie

Pumpkin pie slice representing mental energy.
Pumpkin pie slice representing mental energy. Image is for reference purposes only.

Wait, what?

So, hear me out.

The thing about pie is, of course, that it is finite. Never mind that you can always buy either a ready-made one or the ingredients for same. That is not what I am talking about.

Rather, what I mean is the concept of—this is it, it’s all I’ve got. That’s all there is, and there ain’t no more, if you will.

We Live in a Finite Universe

We have finite days and finite lives. Also, we have finite capacity. No matter how young you are, or your physical condition, you’ve got to sleep, right? At the same time, no matter how smart you are, inevitably you have to study at times. Even if that just means opening a book, memorizing it, and calling that “studying”.

Er, that’s not studying.

But I digress.

No matter what, we are talking about something that is excruciatingly finite. So, until we develop time travel, or some way to stretch time, then guess what? We have all got the same 24 hour mix to play with.

Why am I Talking About This Right Now?

When I first wrote this blog post, I was looking at Wattpad, and came across a passage in a work about NaNoWriMo. The passage essentially said that there’s always going to be someone or other who claims they wrote 100,000 words on the first day of November and is sitting pretty and essentially laughing at the rest of us poor peasants.

It’s a form of trash talking. I ignore it, and I urge everyone else to ignore it as well.

But, why?

Well, for one thing, it’s not likely to be the whole truth. Evidently, the fastest anyone has ever typed is 216 words per minute. Voice recognition isn’t necessarily any quicker, because you have to say the punctuation, formatting, and line breaks.

So, let’s do some math.

Only a little. I’m not insane. 😀

Math Time

So, 216 wpm * 60 minutes = 12,960 words/hour. And 100,000 ÷ 12,960 = just under 7.72 hours. So, it’s technically possible. But is it likely? Probably not, as this is assuming a person is typing at blazing speeds every second. No breaks, no fatigue, no distractions, no editing, and no writer’s block.

Even people with exceptionally detailed outlines will have a moment or two or twelve in there where they aren’t certain of where to go next. They will also get up to visit the facilities or pet their dogs, kiss their children, or make themselves a sandwich.

Why am I Talking About This Braggadocio?

It’s because of this. I have little doubt that those 100,000 words need a ton of editing.  That’s the part which I think some folks want the rest of us to forget when they make such claims.

Writing takes time and serious mental energy.

You spend it…

  • Getting inspired
  • Planning
  • Writing
  • Editing
  • Packaging (i.e. marrying your manuscript to a cover,  or to a title, or putting together a series, that sort of thing)
  • Querying
  • Marketing
  • Thinking up your next great thing

This is the finite piece. And now we go back to the pie example.

The Finite World We Live In

You can’t make the pie any bigger. Something’s got to give.

Banging out 100,000 words in a little under a full work day, without going over it, means typos. It means inconsistencies. And it means the last parts in particular are dominated by labor from a person who is exhausted. You cannot drink coffee or take speed, etc. your way out of it forever.

If you don’t spend time planning, you’ll spend it writing. And if you don’t spend time writing, you’ll spend it editing. If you don’t spend time editing, then packaging becomes enormous and takes longer. If you don’t work on packaging and spend time on it, then querying will take longer, because you’ll be faced with more rejections.

And finally, if you don’t spend time querying, and just take what you can get (and that includes self-publishing—no slam on it, but it is something we do without spending any time on querying), then you will spend that time on marketing.

Lather, rinse, repeat.

The energy will have to be used, and it will have to go somewhere. You will not be able to get away without doing the labor.

Shrinking That Finite World Down Even More

I’ve got a full-time job. I didn’t when I wrote Untrustworthy. But I do now. And that means eight (usually nine) hours are spent working. And I don’t even commute!

Unless you count walking from the bedroom to the office.

Hence let’s pull a third of a day out and toss it. I can’t spend it on writing this way. And neither can most people who have full-time employment.

Sleep? Cut another third of the day right off the top and 86 it. Even if you don’t sleep the full eight hours, it will catch up to you eventually. Not getting enough sleep means you’re not performing at peak efficiency. Plus, that can make you sick, so you would be out of commission for that reason, if nothing else.

So, even if you’ve got, say, an extra two hours, it’s likely that you’re not able to produce within those extra two hours (or several other hours, for that matter) if you don’t get enough rest.

What’s Left?

Personal hygiene, fitness, and meals tend to lop off at least another two hours, maybe as many as four. Household stuff like cooking, washing up, paying bills, cleaning, etc. can average out to around one-half to one hour per day. Even if you’re independently wealthy (or really lazy) and have someone else to do those things for you, you still need to eat, and you still need to clean yourself.

Again, it’s a matter of health. Any time you’re saving by not showering (eek!), you’ll most likely end up spending going to a doctor to get rid of a rash or an infection or worse. Do not do such things to yourself!

And this doesn’t even get into spending time with family or pets, or other forms of socializing, whether in person or online. Don’t put that stuff off forever, or your mental health will suffer, big time.

So, Where Do You Find the Time and the Mental Energy?

Most of the above isn’t just a drain on time. It’s also a drain on—you guessed it—mental energy. A long day spent, say, preparing tax returns, can wipe you out.

But I’ve got the weekend, you say.

Sure you do. And you may be spending it on writing. But there are likely other activities where you’re spending your time.

If you don’t spend time or mental energy on one, then you will spend it elsewhere. Maybe it’s dates or chauffeuring kids around or food shopping. It could be catching up on your sleep, too. Or maybe you’re binge watching something or other. Candy Crush may be calling your name.

Or, you just kind of zone out and suddenly it’s 8:43 PM when you thought it was only 6:43. Not that I’ve ever done that… Heh.

You could be a weekend warrior for fitness or maybe that’s when you clean your house. You do you. But at least there’s a little bit of time in there.

Here are a few places to slip it all in. And no, I am not suggesting that you go nonstop and work yourself to death. Don’t be silly.

The Shower

We all do this. It’s something to do with the relaxation and the rhythm of water. Our minds wander, and we can come up with ideas. This is, of course, not the time to edit. But remember all the stuff I mentioned above, about needing to market, etc.? Some of your shower time can be spent on that.

You can’t write anything down, so it’s not a good place for the specifics. It’s more for the big picture. It’s for the lightbulb moments of, hey, I could advertise on TikTok.

The Commute

Mine is nonexistent these days, but it didn’t used to be. You’ve got your phone with you, right? Then if you think of something on the bus or train, why not email it to yourself? Or put it in a document on a drive you can access from both work and home. The details are yours to figure out.

If you drive, then you can get more creative. Maybe you can essentially dictate while driving, and send the documentary product of voice recognition to yourself. But keep in mind—voice recognition often requires a lot of massaging. The tech is great but imperfect.

And, naturally, don’t endanger yourself!

Plucked from Life

A True Believer in Skepticism was conceived in, of all places, Home Depot!

So, look around you. In particular, people watching can be extraordinarily inspiring. Why do people make the fashion choices they do, or wear their hair a certain way? And why do they take their kids to a restaurant, say—maybe you can do something with that. Or, why do they use smaller words, or speak a different language when it’s just them?

There are countless ways to consider the human condition, and they can mainly come from observation. Find your person to watch. And then think of a character who could be like that. Or, come up with a scenario to throw that person into. For example, what happens when the guy running a food truck has to go to war?

Exercise and Mental Energy

Now, this won’t work for fitness classes. But if you’re busy riding a stationary bike or chugging along on a treadmill, or walking in the woods, again, you’ve got your phone, yes? Working with your phone also means taking photos if need be.

This is another occasion to watch people.

First Thing in the Morning

This is something I will often do. I get up, do my ablutions and exercise. Then, I hit the laptop and write for a while. How much? Probably somewhere between 85 and 385 words on average. Then I turn off the home laptop, turn on the work laptop, and go downstairs to get breakfast. By the time I am back upstairs I’m in work mode.

During November of 2021, 2022, and 2023, I was getting up 30 minutes early. Not much, but it was something. Since you need to write at least 1,667 words per day on average to hit 50k by the 30th, it was helpful to have 200 – 250 or so words banged out already. 250 words is just under 15% of the absolute bare minimum. Not bad for something like 15 – 35 minutes.

It is highly likely that I will continue with this sort of a November schedule, as it’s a proven winner.

Right Before Bed

Don’t use your phone for this, as you’ll diminish the quality of your sleep. So, get a small pad of paper and a pen and scribble. Ideas, sentences, titles, character names, whatever. And keep that pad and pen next to your bed, for the next slot.

Middle of the Night Mental Energy

Have you ever had this happen to you, where you’re sleeping away and you wake up at maybe 3 AM with some sort of amazing idea? Or that dream had some narrative you feel you can harness.

Write that stuff down. In particular, this may help with insomnia. You won’t be laying there, trying to keep from forgetting something or other.

However, I do want to point out that sometimes your amazing middle of the night revelation is something like:

The Cold War on Toast

Well, they can’t all be gems.

Distribute Your Time and Mental Energy the Best Way Possible

This is reality, folks. You cannot be 100% on, all the time. Your body naturally cycles through peaks and troughs.

Know yourself. If you’re a morning person (I mainly am), then getting up early is for you. But if you do better at tea time, then take a work break if you can for 30 minutes, and do your thing. And then make up the time, of course.

And if you are truly terrible at some of the writing tasks, then there’s no shame in outsourcing them and paying someone to do them for you. As in—editing, marketing, and packaging. You may be able to hire someone to write your query for you or at least to help you polish yours.

And ghost writing has a long and semi-noble tradition. But where’s the fun in that?

Some Last Bits of My Own Mental Energy, Beamed Straight from My Brain to Yours

Insert weird sci-fi sound effect here.

This entire post is essentially about setting your priorities, when you get right down to it. Decide what you value in your life. And if that’s spending time with your child to the exclusion of a lot of other things, then hey, that’s fab. You do you. But also recognize that this means it’ll take longer for you to write and get to whatever you feel is your own personal finish line.

After all, you can always put your slice of pie in the freezer, to have another day.

Your writing mental energy is finite. Use it wisely.

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Demystifying Facebook

Published by Janet Gershen-Siegel on May 17, 2022

Demystifying Facebook

How can demystifying Facebook help you, the independent writer? Is it passé? Can you even sell on it? Hint: it’s not just for Candy Crush anymore.

Demystifying Facebook for Independent Writers

Like other small business persons (for that is what an indie author is, right?), you have two separate lives on any social network. One is as an individual. You have friends, you have opinions. You might play games or write about politics. Or you might post memes or videos. You have fun, you express support or sympathy. And, let’s face it, you give and receive attention.

Your other life is as a writer. A writer who might need help marketing. Maybe a writer who might to bounce ideas off other authors. A writer who might need some help with a plot, or at least a sympathetic ear. You might want to talk to others who have been where you are.

Plus you might want to connect with people who can help you improve your craft. Those are beta readers, cover artists, and editors. They might be writers you admire, or even publishing houses which interest you.

And, let’s face it. You may be there to sell your stuff.

Demystifying Facebook and Socializing

As a writer, there is no reason for you to stop socializing online. On Facebook in particular, hanging out with other writers is a great idea.

But Why?

Because writing is, by definition, a solitary pursuit. Even collaborators and co-authors don’t trade the article for the noun for the verb for the adjective for another noun, or sentence for sentence or paragraph for paragraph. Instead, collaborators will generally write their own portion of a work and then give it to their partner, as the partner does the same.

They beta read for each other and combine the pieces, whether those are chapters or sections or the like. The details may differ, but it’s pretty inefficient to hang out together for the actual writing process (although they may get together to discuss plot).

Hangouts for Indie Writers

For independent writers, you have a few places on Facebook where you can hang out. These are my faves.

  • NaNoWriMo group online – if you compete to write 50,000 words in November or do Camp in April or June, then this is your scene. The group is large and generally friendly, although there are sometimes stretches of people stepping on toes. It’s best to hang back at the start and see how things go before you plunge in. There are also local NaNo Facebook groups.
  • Wattpad – if you belong to Wattpad, check them out on Facebook. Befriend fellow Wattpadders? And tell them your real name? Why not?
  • Queer Sci-Fi and other specialty genre groups – do some research, as these can have varying activity levels.
  • Services trading groups – your mileage will vary. Some are more active than others. And some might be more spammy than others.
  • Advertising groups – these tend to be bottom-feeding. If they are just a bunch of ads, and no one is liking or replying to the ads, then you know how effective they are.

Have I missed any groups? Add them in the Comments section!

Of course there is a lot more to demystifying Facebook. I’ll get to it soon. Stay tuned!

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Almost Everything But the Tweet – Conquering Twitter (metrics and timing)

Published by Janet Gershen-Siegel on May 12, 2022

Let’s Look at Almost Everything But the Tweet — Twitter Metrics and the Art and Science of Tweet Timing

Metrics and timing. When you tweet may not seem to matter too much. In particular, if you don’t tweet too terribly often, your tweets will still be out there, so why bother to even care about timing?

metrics and timing

Not so fast.

Patterns

According to The Science of Retweets, Twitter users tend to follow some recognizable patterns.

First thing Monday morning is prime time for retweeting; so is five o’clock on a Friday afternoon. And it’s always 5 o’clock … somewhere.

Yet that makes sense, as tweeters are either settling into the work week or are just about to start the weekend. Weekend tweeting is another animal as well.

Noon is another good time for retweeting—people are at lunch or are about to go. That’s true for people who go into an office and also those who work from home.

Plus there’s also the matter of accounts (often for job sites) that pump out a good dozen tweets, one right after another. These have little individual impact and seem only to be useful for later searching.

Timed tweeting seems almost counterintuitive. But for a business to use Twitter effectively, the tweets should be planned anyway. Why not plan not only their content but also their timing?

Scheduling Software

Here’s where services like Tweet Deck, Social Oomph (formerly Tweet Later) and HootSuite can provide some assistance. By scheduling the most important tweets for the very start and end (and middle) of each business day, you can add to their impact.

Separating out your tweets can also get them all out there while simultaneously preventing a flood of tweets which many users are generally just going to ignore.

Another positive upshot to spacing out your tweets is giving you content that can be used later. For Social Media platforms, it’s easy to initially attack them with an enormous amount of enthusiasm and then taper off or even fizzle out entirely.

If you regularly spit out twenty tweets per day, you’ll be tweeting 100 times during any given work week. Even your most dedicated followers are probably not going to read every single one. Plus, you’re setting yourself up for burnout.

Repeating tweets is pretty much a given, particularly when you consider how many touches people need before they buy just about anything. If someone missed your “Everything’s on sale!” tweet, then you want to catch them on the flip side, eh?

Time Zone Scheduling

So, instead, how about scheduling only two tweets per day (say, at 9:00 and 5:00 PM in the time zone where you have the greatest market share)? That way, you’ll have more people reading and no one will feel overwhelmed. Plus your 100 tweets will work for a little over a month or even two, if you are judicious and don’t tweet on the weekends.

So long as your tweets aren’t intimately tied to a specific time (e. g. announcements of an upcoming event), it shouldn’t matter. And, if they are, you might want to consider splitting them over several Twitter accounts. Perhaps open up one for just events in Seattle, for example.

Now, what about metrics?

URLs

Unfortunately, Twitter itself doesn’t do much, so you’ll mainly have to cobble things together yourself and use off-Twitter resources. One idea is to use a URL-shortening service that tracks basic metrics, such as Social Oomph or HootSuite. You may not get much more data from them than click count, but it’s still something. Hoot Suite provides .owly link metrics, with two free reports.

Another idea is to use a unique URL for the site URL in your profile, say, https://yoursite.com/twitter. If you’ve got Google Analytics set up, you can track when that page is used for landings to your site, and its bounce rate.

For commercial ventures, you might even make up a coupon code and tweet about it. Or use your Twitter landing page as a means of communicating certain special offers available only to Twitter users.

This is also useful for segmenting your audience when you want to send them email (with their double opt-in permission, of course!).

Follower/Following Ratio Metrics

Your number of followers, and the ratio of followers to who you follow, is all well and good, but it’s hard to say what you’re measuring. On Twitter, as on much of the web, popularity tends to breed even more popularity. And, it doesn’t really mean much if you have a number of purely spammy sites following you. They aren’t reading your tweets, anyway, so what’s the point?

This dilutes any idea of what these numbers might provide regarding influence, but if for some reason you really want to be followed by a bunch of spammers, just place the term weight loss into your profile and never block the spammers. In fact, follow them back, and you can get even more of them.

It hardly seems a worthwhile trophy to be followed by the biggest-ever village of spammers, eh?

And for God’s sake, don’t buy followers! That way lies madness. And it’s a fine ticket to being banned, or at least it used to be.

Some Metrics

Some sites, such as Audiense, show number of followers and their influence and activity. You can see which inactive people you follow (so you can drop them if you like), which famous people follow you, etc. Some of these are admittedly vanity metrics, but they are helpful.

Tweet Stats demonstrates, among other things, a graph of daily aggregate tweets. And it also contains your most popular hours to tweet and who you retweet. You’ll probably have to pay a different site for stats like exposure and reach. E. g. this means impressions and mentions of any topic, be it a word, a phrase, a user id or a hashtag.

In conclusion, keep up with Twitter, but don’t overwhelm your followers with floods of content. And measure your influence as well as you can, both using your own and external tools. If you can adjust your tweets to better serve your followers, your true influence will surely rise.

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Plotting 101

Published by Janet Gershen-Siegel on May 3, 2022

Put Plotting on the Front Burner

It can often be hard to start plotting. Yet start you must. Characters have got to do… something or other.

So, here are some ideas to get your characters and you moving.

Scenarios. Start there. So this is the small stuff, just one scene. Here are a few possibilities.

  • Meet cute in a coffee shop (or whatever the equivalent is in your universe).
  • Fight over the last piece of pie.
  • Announcing something startling (e.g. I’m gay! I’m not! Hey, I’m your dad! Soylent Green is people! ~ whatever floats your boat).
  • A hard decision has to be made regarding the future of an elderly or disabled family member (can also be a pet if you prefer).
  • A character is being pushed to go to fight in a war they do not believe in.
  • An academic or athletic competition is tainted by a cheating scandal.

Don’t like my scenes? So do something else. You won’t hurt my feelings.

Or something similar. So the idea here is, throw your characters into various situations. This also means you probably aren’t using all your characters in each of these situations. Maybe Aunt Mary and your biker chick character do best in the fight over the pie. Maybe your sailor character and the dentist character do best in the cheating scandal.

Plotting and Swapping and the Ole Switcheroo

Now swap characters. Move those chess pieces around. Why do your lawyer character and your dog trainer character work so poorly in the announcement scene? Why do your Italian designer character and your drum majorette character do so well in the war scene, but so poorly when they’re paired with anyone else?

Also—the weird variety is the point. You’re throwing Jell-O against the wall to start. So, what sticks? What flops?

You may find a scenario works better if you change something or other. So, maybe the hard decision is about a child. Maybe the competition is a bake-off. Whatever. You do you.

Start to Tie it Together

As you change and manipulate this stuff, and pull the characters’ puppet strings, start to think of how the stuff ties together. And also write the before and the after. Those scenes I reeled off, above? They’re not the first or the last one. They’re like Scene #14 out of 63 scenes. So, you’ve got room for the ramp-up and the denouement.

Wait, is This Plotting? Why Yes, It Is!

And hey, guess what? Every time you change up the situation, you are plotting. Every time you write the sequel and the prequel (or at least imagine them), you’re plotting. And every time you swap the characters, you’re also plotting.

Now it’s time to fit things in better. A medieval fantasy world won’t have coffee shops and maybe no one can meet cute. So now it’s a tavern, or a jousting tournament. Maybe pie doesn’t exist in your universe (quelle horreur!) and starving characters are fighting over a crust of bread. Or the war is a nuclear one, and no one wants to go who isn’t some out of touch general.

Again, you do you.

What’s Next?

And write this stuff down! At some point, when you start to see some winner ideas, think about what the connective tissue is between them. The war and the meeting cute could bookend a relationship. The pie and the cheating could be symptoms of narcissism.

So, once this starts to become second nature, you’ll have your own scenarios. And maybe you won’t need to try quite so many combinations.

As is true in many areas of life, practice makes perfect, or at least perfect-er.

You can do eet!

Plotting 101 is just the start. #amwriting

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