Tuesday, June 29, 2010

BREAK INTO FICTION by Mary Buckham and Dianna Love

Summer energizes me. Even with excessive heat and additional demands on time and energy, I feel…stimulated. I know this is because of my career as a teacher. Summertime was my time.

Every June, I fell into the same old patterns. Rush to give the house the big clean-up I didn’t have time for in the spring. Pack for vacation. Return to canning and freezing veggies…then it was July. Rush. Rush. Rush. Sew. Sew. Sew. And school started again in August.

Same routine, year after year…and I did something similar last week. I returned to the hairdresser that previously skinned my head like an onion. Okay, in my defense, after the first four weeks, that was really a great cut…

But this made me think…am I like this as a writer? Do I return to the same habits, book after book? I won’t tell you how many…it’s embarrassing…maybe they really aren’t FINISHED when I write The End.

So, I’m looking at patterns, searching for habits I need to improve…or discard. And this tells me why I’m so enamored with “How to books.” Partly, it’s because of my life-long routine. Summer = energized = look for answers.

When is it time to let go the ‘how-to’ books and just ‘do’? And go full steam ahead? Have you found the answer? Please share.

But while I’m still in the clutches of patterns of old, I’ll share another book that might help you find your dream.

NAME OF BOOK: BREAK INTO FICTION by Mary Buckham and Dianna Love

WHY I READ THIS BOOK: I recognized the authors’ and loved the title.

LEARNED: This book is so cool. Pick the step you need help with…and there’s a template.

WAS IT HELPFUL: [1] Routine [5] Ah ha Moment
This is a [5]

COLOR CODING: [underlined in a different color each time I read] [1] a New Book [5] Trying to master
[1] This is a new book, with several colors. A recent, detailed rejection sent me searching for answers. I’m reading it from cover to cover and refreshing my memory.

TAKE AWAY: If you keep trying, you might find the answer…and I love templates.

Have you read this book? What did you think?

6 comments:

Jennifer Shirk said...

I haven't read it. Will check it out!

Anonymous said...

Carol ~~ Delighted you took the time to dig into BREAK INTO FICTION and learned from it! This is the book Dianna and I wish we had when we started writing to help stremline the process of plotting. So thank you for both reading and reviewing. You rock!
Cheers ~~ Mary B :-)

Carol Hutchens said...

Jennifer,
Great to 'see' you. Thanks for posting. I'm sure you won't be disappointed.

Carol Hutchens said...

Mary!
Thanks for stopping by...this is my second time through your book and I'm still finding surprises.
Thanks so much for passing on your expertise.

Jane Myers Perrine said...

This sounds like a great book! I'm going to look for it. Very good luck on revising!

Jane

Carol Hutchens said...

Great to see you, Jane.
Thanks for posting.