Tag: BRCWC

Exciting Writing in the Nifty Fifties

~ Richard Solano ~ Leave a comment

All too soon, I’ll be entering my last year as a fifty something.

I can hear you –

Wow – you’re old!

Of course, I claim to be 29 with 30 year’s experience.

I must confess – I sometimes feel like I’m in my 50’s.

I just did an all-nighter with our youth group. I had no problem staying awake despite the hours of laser tag, go-cart racing, ga-ga ball and 9-square. But now, a day and a half later, I’m still sore.

Regardless of the aches and waning stamina, this has been the best decade of my life.

So far.

Each decade of my life has had it’s pains and joys, failures and triumphs.

This decade started with marriage.  I got to see three of my kids become adults. I began teaching a group of boys whom I will lead at church through their graduation in 2028.

All that is good, but one of the most exciting parts of my fifties is the fact that I started learning how to write at a higher level.

It’s an ongoing process and I admit I am breaking the rules with this rambling blog. Still, it’s been an incredible journey.

I have loved seeing these crazy ideas swimming around my head taking shape on paper.

I do have one regret.

Had I known what joy writing would bring me, I would have started when I was younger. 

Don’t get me wrong. I’ve enjoyed my career in technology. It’s just that I now realize what a joy that writing is.

If you are young and have been bitten by the writing bug – pursue it!

If, like me, you’re not so young anymore and have experienced that blazing urge to write – pursue it!

Some of you may have the luxury of pursuing writing in college. That’s awesome.

Most of us will never make a full-time income from writing. For us, there are still many ways to pursue our writing.

I have compiled a short list of resources for the Christian writer which I will upload to the resources page on my website (as soon as I create it).

These are just a few of the resources available to writers to learn and grow and connect to other writers, agents, and publishers.

I created this list for a Christian writers small group that I lead every other Monday evening. Anyone in the Denver area is welcome to join us. We meet every other Monday (including this Monday, Feb. 27, 2023) at 6:30pm at the Café at Barnes and Noble at 120th and Washington in Thornton, CO.

There are similar groups that meet all over the country.  They are a great place to start exploring the options available to the new writer.

Make this next decade the best in your life and if the bug has bitten you, make writing part of it!

The Shortcomings of Short Stories

~ Richard Solano ~ 1 Comment

 

I had a blast writing my latest Christmas story, The Star of Mystery.

But it was frustrating too!

I introduced several new characters without enough words to develop them. It was also the first time most people will read a compete story about Wil Clarey.

Let’s be honest,

5-6 thousand words is not enough to do justice to the subject of autism and still tell the story. You’ll just have to read the Wil Clarey series when it gets published.

On the positive side, I was able to write a complete story and edit it (with the help of a couple of beta readers) in the space of just three weeks. It was fast and furious fun!

The purpose of my Christmas short stories is not just to share the stories but to expand my platform.

To be frank, in order to get the Wil Clarey books published, I need a larger number of followers. I say this to encourage you to follow my Facebook and Instagram pages as well as this blog.

Feel free to share the link to my stories with anyone you think might be interested.

Keep an eye on this page as I will attempt to resume my weekly blogs now that my short story writing push is over.

In case you’re interested in my longer stories, here’s the latest.

  • Wil Clarey – The impossible Summer is complete and ready for professional editors.
  • Wil Clarey – School of Hard Knocks is 80% through content edit.
  • Wil Clarey – The Mystery at the Mill is complete in rough draft form.
  • Reymons – I will restart the rewrite in a couple of weeks when I am done with the School of Hard Knocks edit. Much of the middle of the book series was written when I realized that I needed to do a lot more background and character development. My current plan to make it a three book arc. Book one will be background and development to the lead characters up to the escape from Reymons (a massive city under what is now Humphrey’s Peak in Arizona). Book two will cover the adventure of our lead characters traveling to a haven at the coast through many surprise interactions with above ground cultures. Book three will be the return to and rescue of Reymons.

If my writing piques your interest, contact me to be a beta reader.

Until then, enjoy the short stories and blogs.

The Perfect Edit?

~ Richard Solano ~ Leave a comment
Caution – red pen at work. (Also Spoiler Alert – don’t read manuscript if you don’t want spoilers).

 

As of a week and a half ago, I have written three books in the Wil Clarey Series. Books two and three are in rough draft form –

very rough.

Book One – The Impossible Summer is in much better shape. It is as thoroughly self-edited as possible. It is completely ready for professional editors.

So I thought.

In preparation for editing book two, School of Hard Knocks, I read through Book one with an eye toward maintaining continuity through the series. I even made a spreadsheet to list all the named characters and details about them (There are 34 named characters in The Impossible Summer at last count).

Of course, I read my paper manuscript with red pen in hand.

The red pen has a mind of its own. It found several poorly worded sentences, a few unneeded lines, and a handful of typos.

So much for “ready for professional edit.”

If you are a casual reader, you might not realize how many times most books are edited before publishing. I used to think that someone would proofread a manuscript and then it would be printed. That’s just the final step.

Here’s a few of the possible edits a manuscript will go through:

  • Developmental edit – This one can be painful. This type of edit may lead to major restructuring of the story.
  • Structural Edit – May be included with developmental edit. Looks at the flow of the presentation to make sure the reader can follow along.
  • Continuity edit (or fact checking) – I just did a bit of that with Book one. For instance, I realized that July 4th needed to fall on a Tuesday to stay consistent with the calendar I chose for books two and three. It can also include checking for consistency in character names and ages, layout of settings, etc.
  • Copy edit – checks for errors in grammar and spelling.
  • Proofread – checks for typos.

Some edits may be combined or split to suit the publisher and the book. I’ve seen about as many interpretations of editing as I’ve seen articles on the process.

The bottom line is, a good book is the work of the author and several others.

Just like a lawyer representing himself has a fool for a client, the author who self-edits beyond the first couple of edits has a fool for an editor.

As I don’t have the cash to lay out for a series of professional edits, I am praying for a traditional publisher. In the meantime, realize that any excerpts you may see here or at WilClarey.com may not be as they get published.

I promise you that I will not publish whole books without completing the editing process. I’m not that cruel.

Okay, maybe I’m a little cruel.

These blogs and my Christmas stories are self edited.

I hope you enjoy them anyway!

Atomic Fireball

~ Richard Solano ~ Leave a comment

It’s just a simple looking red candy until you pop it into your mouth.

It’s just a neatly trimmed stack of bound paper until you start reading it.

This candy in my mouth right now goes through waves of intense flavor heat.

My heart goes through a wide range of emotions as it chews through a good story.

I love it when a story surprises, shocks, or inspires me.

As I drive from customer to customer during my workdays, I usually listen to books on Audible or Libby (the library app – check it out). There have been quite a few times when I had to pause a book early so that I didn’t arrive at a customer with red eyes.

I know not everyone is affected by stories the way I am. But the shocking plot twists, dives into despair, and flights into hope inspire me to try to bring that same hope into the world.

I recently read a couple of books by Charles Martin (I highly recommend “Send Down the Rain”). They were relatively tame books in terms of action, but both had incredible plot twists. Neither were the least bit preachy, but both inspired me to emulate some of the good characteristics of the imperfect protagonists.

That’s how I want to write! I’ll leave my preaching at church. In my stories, I want to inspire through those plot twists, dives, and flights.

I know several people who think it’s a waste of time to read and write fiction.

Jesus didn’t think that. He used fictional stories to get His points across all the time.

That’s enough to convince me.

So, I’ll pop another Atomic Fireball in my mouth and keep spicing my stories up with the crazy things my characters keep doing. Someday, someone will have to have to hit pause to clear their eyes before they get where they are going. Hopefully, that destination will be a little brighter because my characters brightened their life.

Old Dog, New Tricks

~ Richard Solano ~ Leave a comment

Due to COVID, I currently work in a hospital print shop. I have for the last 7 months. With the help of my coworkers, I’ve acquired several new skills.

Newly acquired skill, painting with glue.

We often have people from other locations help us out as we are the busiest print shop in our company in this area. One day, a guy I’ll call George (not his name) was helping us. He was at the workstation next to mine and was applying a second coat of glue to a project that I was taught only needed one coat.

I was curious. Did I miss something? I asked, “Hey George, didn’t you glue that already?”

Maybe I phrased that wrong because his reply was almost violent. “I’ve been doing this for 30 years, don’t tell me how to do my job!”

I was stunned silent. I thought about explaining that I was just curious but he shoved his earbuds back in and went about his redundant work.

I had to wonder, “Do I get that way?” When someone criticizes my writing, do I get defensive, or do I try to learn.

I have to admit, I sometimes get defensive. When someone points out an issue, I’ll try to explain it away. My reaction should be to learn from that criticism. Even if the critic has no writing experience, they have reading experience and can tell when something doesn’t sound right.

This old dog can learn new tricks. I was over 50 when I started getting serious about writing. I have learned a ton last few years. I still have a lot to learn.

In just a few days I take off on a road trip bound for the Blue Ridge Christian Writers Conference. I hope to refine my writing more and make some great connections.

I will be vlogging my road trip and time at the conference on The Wandering Pen, my YouTube writing channel. I can’t guarantee that I will be posting every day as I will be busy but I will do my best to make it fun and informative. See you there!

Oh, and if you criticize my videos, I’ll try to appreciate it and learn how to do them better.

Am I Crazy?

~ Richard Solano ~ 2 Comments

Am I crazy for participating in NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) during the same month as the Blue Ridge Christian Writer’s Conference?

Yeah, probably!

But then my favorite Bible verse is 2 Corinthians 5:13 – “If we are out of our minds, it is for the sake of God.” (Loose quote from the NIV)

Problem is, I love writing – especially when it’s like today. I gave myself an hour to write a scene. It was an epic action scene where my band of travelers had no choice but to engage in battle with the guards who were pursuing them.

I won’t tell you how successful they were (but I’m only a third of the way through so – duh). I will tell you that the chapter ended with a plot twist that I didn’t see coming.

I love it when that happens!

Now I need to get back to my conference prep, working on one sheets and business cards.

As for NaNoWriMo, I most likely won’t reach that magic number of 50,000 words, but I will be motivated to write more. I’ll also be inspired by the stories of others and share a bit about my latest novel Reymons.

Should you participate in NaNoWriMo?

Do you love writing?

Do you have an idea for a novel that is just dying to get on paper?

Then, yes! Absolutely participate!

Don’t worry if you don’t make the 50,000 word goal. Just get going!

When you do, look me up under the user name Reymons.