Aug 7, 2006 | Uncategorized |
First news, and it's good, is that my mentor has given me the green light to send my thesis into the formal review process. So, later today, I must go get the fancy paper required for the signature page, print everything out (including the sig page; later, once the thesis is accepted, the entire thing must be printed on the fancy paper), and get it into the mail to the university (express mail, of course). Yay! I am very happy about this, and hope the review process goes smoothly. My mentor could ask me to make changes once he gets the thesis in hard copy and reads it closely (I hope not since he's seen several drafts already) or either of the committee members could ask for changes too. They worry me a bit, but I hope they will accept his recommendation and go with it. (Does a PhD from Harvard trump other PhD's? One can only hope….)
Saturday was my RWA meeting. We had the most fascinating, personable, and interesting guest speaker! Dr. Robert Mann, a forensic anthropologist and author of Forensic Detective, works at the identification lab here in Hawaii. These are the guys (and gals) who identify the remains of missing servicemen and women. They also get called in on police cases. Dr. Mann worked on the Jeffery Dahmer case (yick!), for instance, and a wealth of others too (9/11 identifications). His book is fascinating, and even if it wasn't, I'd have bought it for his personality alone.
What a great guy! He gave a 2 hour talk, with Q&A, then went to lunch with us and spent the entire afternoon talking about bones and writing. He credits his coauthor with making his work readable, and appreciates what goes into writing a good book. Not a bit of ego on this guy, even though the subtitle to his book is “How I Cracked the World's Toughest Cases.” That was a publisher choice. In fact, he told us that the publisher insisted on three words in the title: “Forensic,” “Detective,” and “I.”
He was the lucky recipient of a book tour, and he brought slides to share and anecdotes to tell. He also offered to give us a tour, at some future date, of the identification lab. You can bet we'll be taking him up on that one!
If you're interested at all in CSI type stuff, or if you write romantic suspense, I'd encourage you to give Dr. Mann's book a try. Very readable!
Aug 2, 2006 | Uncategorized |
A great post over at Romancing the Blog today about the difference between good writing and original storytelling. In fact, it's downright scary. Agent Kristin Nelson talks about the good writing she's seeing, but laments that the plots are homogeneous.
I think writers assume that good writing is enough. Well, it’s not. You have to couple good writing with an original storyline–something that will stand out as fresh and original. A story never told in this way before (even if elements are similar to what is already out on the market).
She goes on to point out how scenes in three separate novels could be interchanged because they were so similar. She also notes that the writers don't know each other and aren't in a critique group together. So how does their writing contain similar elements?
Maybe it's Jung's collective unconscious. Or maybe it's just that these plots are so familiar to us as readers that when we go to write our own, we've internalized what we feel are the must-have elements. And then we incorporate them because they are must-haves.
What gives a writer that extra little edge, that twist of thought that takes the story beyond the must-have and into the new and original?
I wish I knew! I think we all think we've got the original element, but then we just don't know for sure until the rejects start coming in. Or until we read enough to recognize the same element in other stories. I read some contest entries a while back that stressed this sort of thing to me. The entries I read were paranormal. Without fail, they were familiar to me, even though I don't read widely in the genre. The “obligatory” scenes were there. And they were so obvious to me.
But spotting them in your own writing is much harder. I guess you just have to read widely and be aware. And if you spot the familiar, fix it. Any other suggestions? Any thing you've done when you've found this in your own writing? I'd love to know!
Aug 2, 2006 | Uncategorized |
My brain is still drained. I can't think of a thing to say, so here's a picture. Mark Twain called Waimea Canyon the Grand Canyon of the Pacific. It was beautiful the day we saw it.
Man, I'm going to miss Hawaii. I won't miss the cost of living or the outrageous real estate, but I will miss the scenery and the weather. Still, I know leaving is for the best. But I'm not going to be able to watch Dog the Bounty Hunter when I'm in Alabama. I'll probably cry and feel homesick for the islands. 🙁
Aug 1, 2006 | Uncategorized |
Are you sick of my thesis yet? 🙂
But, hey, it's writing, so I have to talk about it. Today, in spite of distractions, I did a quick read through, added a little clarifying info to my conclusion (which took it to 64 pages), and sent it to my mentor. He's so quick with turnaround, and I really appreciate that. One of my committee members doesn't even have an email address (this would be the philosopher guy that worries me), so we'll see what happens when this moves into committee. I don't have time to dilly dally with changes; the final version has to be to the Graduate Studies office by Oct 10th. Sounds like a lot of time, really, but when you have to have three separate people, with busy teaching schedules, read your stuff and get it back to you for any changes which you will then have to send back to them again, the time can disappear into nothing.
Talked to my parents this morning. They were happy to hear I'd finished the thesis. What do you think they asked me? “So, you going to get a Ph.D.?” Someone else asked me that question this weekend too. Man, I haven't even recovered from this yet!
It was always a goal of mine, but I don't know that it means as much to me now as it used to. Really, it'd be great to settle down to writing my fiction and see where that takes me.
Jul 30, 2006 | Uncategorized |
I just finished the first draft of my master's thesis!!!
Words written yesterday and today: 1758
Total word count: 17743
Pages, not including prelims: 63
OMG, I can't believe I did it! Three weeks, 12000 words. I am beat and ecstatic. And I hope it holds up. I won't send it to my mentor until Monday (1 day before deadline), so I might end up messing with the conclusion a bit. The conclusion is shorter than I thought. I expected 10 pages early on. I reduced that to around 5 last week, and ended up with 4. I think I said everything that needs to be said though. Guess I'll find out next week when my mentor gets a look at it.
Jul 29, 2006 | Uncategorized |
Nimitz doing what he does 2nd best. First best would be driving me crazy. 🙂
Hard to believe that nearly a year ago we picked up a dirty, flea-infested scrap of fur that weighed less than 2 lbs and then he turned into this hilarious beast.
And I do mean hilarious. He cracks me up. Every day he does something that has me in stitches. Right now, he's sleeping somewhere, thank heavens. Later, the house and my sanity will be in jeopardy….
