Novels, Poems, and Plays by Tom Mach

Obama's Health Care Plan

2009-07-29T11:15:00.011-05:00

Humor

I don't know the source of this humor, so my apologies to whomever.

Here are the various opinions doctos have on Obama's health care plan.

The Allergists voted to scratch it.
The Dermatologists advised not to make any rash moves.
The Gastroenterologists had a sort of gut feeling about it.
The Neurologists thought the Obama administration had a lot of nerve.
The Obstetricians felt they were all laboring under a misconception.
The Ophtamologists considered the idea shortsighted.
The Optometrists demanded a closer look.
The Surgeons wanted to wash their hands of the whole thing.
The Podiatrists thought it was a step backward.
The Orthopedists thought things were being stretched too far.
The Orthodontists were eager to straighten out the liberals in Congress
The Plastic Surgeons wanted to put a whole new face on the matter.
The Psychiatrists thought the whole idea was madness
The Pathologists screamed "Oveler my dead body!"
The Cardiologists didn't have the heart to say no.
But the Urologists felt the plan wouldn't hold water.

2009-07-12T11:32:00.001-05:00

The Basics of a Novel

by Tom Mach

I’ve research different writers about the process of writing a novel, and while they tend to give different perspectives, they also show two things in common: (1) the characters must appear to be flesh-and-blood real to the reader, and (2) there must be a reasonable structure to the novel. Since characterization requires a details discussion by and of itself, let me first talk about structure.

It may be obvious to you if I say that a good novel has a beginning, a middle, and an end. What is less obvious is what do we expect to happen in those three major sections? The beginning of the novel has too do some highly important tasks. It must create an interesting beginning where the character is faced with a significant problem. This character has a goal of some sort—perhaps avoiding getting caught, trying to solve a crime, wanting something someone else has, trying to prevent someone from taking what she has, etc. As that character strives to attain that goal, she begins to run into an obstacle. This beginning part of the novel has to do a good job in making the problem real and in making you either root for the character to succeed or (if the character is a villain) to be deeply interested in learning how the character will eventually be caught.

The middle part of the novel now gets into the failed attempts of the main character to attain his goal or solve his problem. When she tries one thing, something worse happens. When she tries another, something even more challenging happens. She finally comes to what some authors refer to either a “dark moment” or “climax” when things look their darkest and something has to change. She needs to solve that problem or attain that goal somehow. But she might do this by deciding that she doesn’t want that goal or doesn’t want that problem solved. It’s not an instantaneous revelation where she wakes up and decides this. Circumstances evolve that convince her to make a change in direction.

All the while, the character is changing his perspective. The end of the novel shows how the character has changed and how a new course of action is now possible. I like to think of this as the “resolution” of the novel. While some loose things have to be tidied up, the character doesn’t necessarily have a picture-perfect happy ending. In fact, you as a novelist don’t want to give her a picture-perfect ending. But at least give her hope. I’ve done this in my novel All Parts Together where my main character, Jessica, is devastated because she’s lost the true love of her life, her book won’t be published, her hero (Abraham Lincoln) was assassinated, and there doesn’t seem to be much in life that will interest her. But there’s a knock on door. A lady wants to invited her to an important meeting. This will mark a new departure in Jessica’s life, and that departure will be fully revealed in my third novel in the series.

Character development, in my opinion, is as important as plot development. When we think of the great novels of the past that we’ve read, we think of the characters. For instance, anyone who has ever read Mitchell’s Gone with the Wind is so familiar with Scarlet O’Hara she has become a real person. You experience her foolish pain in trying to capture Ashley Wilkes’ heart only to find her true love, Rhett Butler, who ultimately leaves her. Creating a character is not simply giving that character a name and adding a few physical descriptions. You need to get into that person’s heart and soul and look through the eyes of that person and experience the things they experience. You need to know this person’s background and ambitions so well that you could predict how they would react in particular situations. Sara Toby’s desperation for money leading her to prostitution in my novel All Parts Together, is not altogether surprising. She had always been inspired to be an actress and felt she could act her way through being a harlot. And while she once loved her husband Roger, she learned of his unfaithfulness so she was able to justify her own unfaithfulness as well. But it wasn’t easy for her as she held a high opinion of herself as a churchgoing woman. The conflict in her soul was almost unbearable.

2009-06-26T13:04:00.002-05:00

Acclaimed author Don Coldsmith dies
By Patrick Kelley (Emporia Gazette)
Friday, June 26, 2009

Western author Don Coldsmith of Emporia died Thursday, June 25, at the University of Kansas Hospital in Kansas City, Kan. He had suffered a stroke last week.

Coldsmith, who was 83, parlayed the chance find of a relic on the prairie into a series of 29 novels about the Native Americans of the Great Plains before the coming of the Europeans. The Spanish Bit Saga was popular with American readers and was translated into other languages. He was a past president of the Western Writers of America and in 1990 won the organization’s Golden Spur award for his novel “The Changing Wind.” In 2003, the group named him recipient of its Owen Wister Award.

Jim Hoy, fellow writer, lecturer and teacher at Emporia State University, said Coldsmith had a talent for connecting to his readers, even when writing about unfamiliar cultures.
“As a writer, he was just a really good storyteller,” Hoy said. “He had a real knack for universalizing …”

Coldsmith was born Feb. 28, 1926, in Iola, the son of a Methodist minister. After graduation from high school in Coffeyville, he joined the U.S. Army in 1944 and served as a combat medic in the Pacific Theater. After the war, he was assigned to the occupation troops in Japan, where he provided medical care for accused Japanese war criminals, including Prime Minister Hideki Tojo.
After his discharge from the Army, he attended and graduated from Baker University in Baldwin City, then was hired as youth director at a YMCA in Topeka, where he helped to integrate the YMCA swimming pool, the first in the state to be integrated.

He then went to medical school at the University of Kansas, where he received his medical degree in 1958. He practiced family medicine in Emporia until 1988, when he closed his practice and became a full-time writer, working in longhand for transcription. Besides his many novels, Coldsmith also wrote a weekly newspaper column, “Horsin’ Around,” and many magazine articles. He was a popular lecturer on the subject of the West and its history.

He and his wife, Edna, maintained a small ranch on the outskirts of Emporia, and for a time raised appaloosa horses.

In 1986, Coldsmith established the Tallgrass Writers Workshop at Emporia State University to bring aspiring writers together with experienced writers, editors and agents. The 24th workshop begins at the university on Friday.

Survivors include his wife.

2009-06-24T11:59:00.001-05:00

My interpretation of “Love Among the Ruins” (Robert Browning)

by Tom Mach
©2009 by Tom Mach

I’ve always believed that poetry is a very special type of writing that forces readers to throw themselves into the poem and personalize it against their own attitudes, backgrounds, experiences, and prejudices. That’s why it’s not surprising to learn you can hand an identical poem to five poetry “experts” and come back with five different interpretations.

I’ve always enjoyed the poetry of 19th century British writers. One that from time to time has been somewhat enigmatic to me has been Robert Browning. Some of his thoughts are so obscure that it was rumored that even Mr. Browning, when asked about one of his poems, could not recall what it meant. A particular poem that has stayed with me ever since high school (eons ago) was a Browning poem called “Love Among the Ruins.” An artist named Edward Burne-Jones actually did a painting based on this poem, and it’s shown up there on this blog.

Here’s Browning’s “Love Among the Ruins”—

Where the quiet-coloured end of evening smiles,
Miles and miles
On the solitary pastures where our sheep
Half asleep
Tinkle homeward thor’ the twilight, stray or stop
As they crop—
Was the site once of a city great and gay,
(So they say)
Of our country’s very capital, its prince
Ages since
Held his cour in gathered councils, wielding far
Pear or War.
Oh heart! oh blood that freezes, blood that burns!
Earth’s returns
For whole centuries of folly, noise and sin!
Shut them in,
With their triumphs and their glories and the rest!
Love is best.

When I first read this poem I fell in love with cadence and the delightful juxtaposition of words, such as “blood that freezes, blood that burns” or “for whole centuries of folly, noise and sin! Shut them in.” But as I read it over and over, pictures flashed through my mind—not necessarily Robert Browning’s pictures, but my own. Let’s take a few examples:

“Where the quiet-coloured end of evening smiles, Miles and Miles.”
I visualize those evenings on a Hawaiian beach where your can almost see the curvature of the earth as the golden sun’s smile begins to sink into the Pacific.

“Where our sheep half asleep tinkle homeward through the twilight.”
Instead of sheep, I visualize cattle on a Kansas landscape. The cattle have finished grazing and stand still, almost statuesque-like. Perhaps they are already half-asleep.

“Was the site once of a city grat and gay (So they say) of our country’s very capital.”
I’m thinking about Washington, DC Will our nation’s capital someday sit in ruins because of the evil in the world that would like us destroyed?

“Oh heart! oh blood that freezes, blood that burns! Earth returns”
Freezing blood reminds me of people who have become cold and heartless while blood hat burns reminds me of riots where people will kill each other to force their will on others. Hopefully, though Earth will return to sanity.

--Anyway, those are my thoughts. As I say, everyone interprets poetry differently. That’s why it is such a terrific medium of communication.

2009-06-15T14:13:00.001-05:00

It’s not Showing, It’s not Telling, It’s Internalizing

by Tom Mach
© 2009 by Tom Mach

I can’t help but wonder whether television and movies as well as the emphasis of technology-based communications over face-to-face communications made us less sensitive to interpreting the emotions of others. TV, for instance, does all the work for us in terms of letting us actually see an angry criminal or a despondent mother. We don’t have to use our brain to take written words for the true feelings of these characters, have them regenerated into our brains, and internalize those emotions. Our eyes just take in what they see on TV and we are instantly told what the character’s emotions are. No brain-internalizing.

To a small extent, we do a smidgen of “internalizing” when we use technology to communicate. That is, if we send someone an email, or a text message, or “tweet” someone we are send words and expecting the recipient to translate those words into thoughts. However, these are generally short bursts of words (Twitter limits “tweets” to 140 characters), and the sender often makes no effort to show the reader the true scope and flavor of his or her feelings. A tweet might say something like this:

It’s insane the way the government spends our hard-earned tax money on those pork projects. It makes me furious. Something ought to be done.

The problem with this is that it doesn’t “grab” us—unless we can dredge up our own experiences in this topic and superimpose them on that statement. The sentence, though expressed as an opinion, is translated to the brain as “fact” but we don’t get as emotionally involved as if we were presented with a person whom we learn to care about and who had been involved with a similar situation. For instance we can describe a woman released from prison who found a job but because of the high tax burden coupled with her other expenses, was harassed by the IRS and ultimately found guilty of non-payment of taxes. She is sent back to prison, and—no longer able to rejoin her husband who recently filed for divorce—she reads that the government spent a large sum of money studying the sex life of a hamster. The injustice of it all is like a slap in the face If we add more information about this woman—her history, her appearance, her young children, and the injustices she had faced in her past—we find that the simple 40-character comment on Twitter now carries a lot more meaning.

One of the points that writing workshop leaders like to stress in the importance of “showing” and not “telling.” While that’s true, I would go a step further, and make two other points: (1) it is not possible to always “show” in a novel, and (2) when we do “show” we should strive, wherever possible, to influence the reader to internalize a character’s emotions. With regard to the first point, there are times a novelist must “tell” a situation to give the story proper pacing. “Showing” every single situation would dramatically increase the size of the novel and make reading quite ponderous. Take any novel and you’ll find this is true. A character has his shoes shined at the airport and then rushes to the gate. The novelist doesn’t get into a thorough description of the shoeshine person and his emotions (unless these are crucial to the plot). Why would that be necessary? It would bore the reader, lose continuity of the story, and slow down the plot. Concerning the second point, if we’re attempting to show the jealousy a wife has over her husband’s secret lover, we’ll be getting into two powerful emotions—anger and betrayal. We can show these emotions by way of dialogue (a nasty conversation between the wife and his lover), by internal dialogue (the wife bringing into her mind other episodes of her husband infidelity and how she responded to them), or by describing in vivid detail her reactions (the wife throwing all his clothes out the window, flattening the car tires of her husband’s lover, etc.).

Sometimes we have to show but can’t expect the reader to internalize a character’s feelings. For instance, we could show the horror of a cat being cruelly tortured by being fried in a microwave. Or, we can show the majestic beauty of a forest by visualizing the way the redwoods climb through the mist, the dampness of the morning air, and the scampering of squirrels hunting for food—all the while comparing the majesty of the forest with the quiet humility of a country church.

One difficulty I have always had in describing how a person feels is by describing their facial ticks. But since that would require a lengthy discussion, I’ll leave that for next time.

2009-05-23T10:09:00.004-05:00

Procrastination and the Writer

by Tom Mach
© 2009 by Tom Mach

Robert Benchley said it best when he said, “Anyone can do any amount of work, provided it isn't the work he is supposed to be doing at that moment. “ While this can be said of any endeavor, I find that it is particularly true of writers. I am one of the greatest time-wasters in the world. Yesterday I must have checked my Twitter at least thirty times, my Facebook twenty times, sent out meaningless tweets about fifteen times, check my email every 15 minutes, bought myself a cell phone and tried playing Sudoku on it, then took a drive to get my car washed and put gas in it.

Box Score: “Other stuff” –110 “Writing”—0

I envy writers who claim they can sit down and type out five pages a day, every day, no matter what. They claim that even if what they type is nonsense, even if it is poorly written, even if it is filled with all sorts of errors, it’s writing. To me, it’s like saying even if you’re pumping air into a tire and no air is going into it, you’re pumping. Or, it’s like composing a symphony using a harmonica. At least you’re attempting to compose.

I use the excuse of having to be “inspired” before I can write. The problem is that I don’t get inspired until I start writing and once I get into the rhythm of my story, then I get inspired.

I think next time I give a workshop on writing a novel, I will write three words on the chalkboard and dismiss the class. The words? JUST DO IT.

2009-05-22T15:39:00.002-05:00

My Personal Thoughts as a Writer (Part 4)

by Tom Mach
© 2009 by Tom Mach

Today I’d like to discuss two aspects of my writing life—one as a poet and another as a playwright. While I did write some poems in the late 1970s, I never took myself seriously as a poet. I suppose one thing that deterred me was the fact that at the time I saw only two kinds of poems—the classical (Browning, Shakespeare, etc.) and the modern. I’ve always loved the classical poets because there was a certain kind of sophistication, underlying truth, and musical cadence to their works. Who could but wonder about Robert Browning’s idealism when he wrote: “The beauty and the wonder and power. / The shapes of things, their colors, lights, and shades, / Changes, surprises—and God made them all!” Or the immortal Shakespeare sonnet: “Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day? / Thou art more lovely and more temperate.” But when I get to the modern poet, I tend to get confused. I don’t understand a lot of it. Here would be a “typical” modern poem: “The lantern hangs on a darkened chimney while a mouse struck by the daylight hourglass, dances to the chimes of a carpenter’s saw.” Okay—what does this mean? I have no idea. I think modern poetry is a lot like modern art. There might be a message there somewhere, but I’ll be darned if I’m going to stare at it all day to try to figure it out.

I’ve read a lot of poems and am beginning to have some luck in winning recognition for them. I published a book of poetry called The Uni Verse and won the Nelson Poetry Book Award for it. I was also a winner in two poetry contests that our Kansas Poet Laureate sponsored a month ago, won first place in the narrative category and third place in the classics category of a contest sponsored by the Kansas Authors Club. One of my poems also won 9th place out of 3,000 entries in the July issue of Writers Digest. In addition, I’ve had several of my poems published in the Sunday editions of the Lawrence Journal World newspaper. I love the challenge of poetry because it keeps my writing sharp and helps me think beyond the confines of a story.

I’ve also written several plays, although none of them have been produced—as of yet. I’ve written a musical based on my novel, Sissy! I also wrote a children’s musical based on a first place short story called Priscilla’s New Word. And I also wrote a comedy, the title of which I won’t yet reveal publically. This last one is a two-act play and I have an agent sending it around to off-Broadway locations.

One of my biggest bugaboos is laziness. I work well under pressure. Right now I have no deadlines, so I’m just goofing off. Hopefully, my agent will find me a contract with one of my three books I have written or that play I mentioned. I’ve got to get that old writing brain of my working again!

2009-05-17T09:24:00.003-05:00

The Inheritance

by Tom Mach
©1981 by Tom Mach

Well, if you insist, then come,
drink in the pleasures of my father’s mansion.
Become intoxicated with his Renoired walls.
Visit the secret prison of his friends:
his Melville, Poe, and sacred bards of old.
What do you expect—the grandeur that would shake
even those who touch the garments of kings?
Think you that the power of his gods
will shine from the power of his gods?
Will Nirvana arise from the ashes of this man?
No. The poisoned air of shame
still smogs the songless rooms,
and the carpet once crushed by heavy boots
is dead, flattened by time.
So come, taste the stillness of my father’s cave,
but after, run hungrily to the meadow
before the shadow of his emptiness enfolds you.

2009-05-10T14:13:00.002-05:00

Index of All My Blogs From April 7, 2009 to May 9, 2009

I have posted 28 blogs on this site between 4/7 and 5/9 and I invite all readers to review the past list of my blogs, to the very post I made. For those of you who might be unfamiliar with how to search for all of them you need to scroll down to the bottom of the page and click on the green message that says “Older Posts.” This will bring you to a new window. As you continue to scroll down to the bottom and click on “Older Posts” you will eventually get to the last page that represents my first post.

Here is a convenient list of my posts, starting with the latest to the earliest—

May 9………Deepen your stories today
May 8………How should a novel end?
May 7………The music of the sonnet
May 6………A haiku to the universe
May 5………My novel, 52 years later…what did I learn?
May 4………There are different ways for you to read a novel
May 3………A few thoughts about our universe
May 2………My personal thoughts as a writer (part 3)
May 1………My personal thoughts as a writer (part 2)
Apr 30….…..101 Best websites in 2008 for writers
Apr 29………Making the transition from story to play
Apr 28………My personal thoughts as a writer (part 1)
Apr 27………A surprising list of authors who have self-published
Apr 26………Want to writer a children’s picture book? Read this.
Apr 25………Tom’s poem from The Uni Verse
Apr 23………Things to consider if you’re writing historical fiction
Apr 22………What is “poetry”? Why do you want to write it? And in what form?
Apr 21………Why should authors twitter?
Apr 20………The power of words
Apr 19………On being a shameless (& smart) self-promoter
Apr 18………Farewell to James Houston—author and friend
Apr. 17……. Blogs, books and the irony of short
Apr 16………(mis) Quote of the day
Apr 15………The analogy of novel writing to house building
Apr 11………How poetry improves all other writing
Apr 10………Sounds of Lawrence
Apr 8………..Humor
Apr 7………..Poems I’ve written

2009-05-09T06:42:00.004-05:00

Deepen your stories today

(excerpts from an article written by Mary DeMuth for The Writer, Feb. ’09 by permission from the author) For more information on the author’s book mentoring program, click on http://www.thewritingspa.com/

William Wordsworth wrote, “Fill your paper with the breathings of your heart” Wordsworth’s quote rings true for me as a parenting author. I splay my heart on the pages of my books, exploring my inadequacies, embracing little parenting triumphs. It makes sense. The way to a nonfiction reader’s heart is an author’s vulnerability, her ability to reveal emotional depth. Can the same be said for fiction? A resounding yes.

How do you harness emotional depth? Is it possible to write stories that suck readers in, enamoring them of characters who resonate? Absolutely.

1. Write truth from the inside out
Writing prose that does not have your heart in it becomes mechanically correct but bereft of soul. It becomes outside-in writing. Reveal secrets on the page of a journal, daring to write the truth. Write it to yourself, about yourself, about the world you live in. In the safe haven of a blank notebook, explore your passions.

2. Translate your emotional experiences
It’s one thing to explore your own interior; it’s another to use your emotions to build a character. But it must be done. Pull out the journal where you’ve bled some truth. Then, find a character in your story that lacks depth or verve and begin to connect her flatness to the richness of your current struggle. Free-write the character into a scene until you sense our own emotions surfacing.

3. Get out in the world
Writing is a solitary art. We seldom venture out of the land of people. But too much solitude makes our novels suffer. We need to put down our journal pen, abandon the blinking curser, and rub shoulders with people To hear bantering. To risk ourselves in relationships. To once again be reminded of the astounding beauty of humanity alongside its depravity.

You’ve heard the mantra: Show, don’t tell. Perhaps the secret to showing is actually living your own stories well.
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Footnote from Tom Mach:
Ms. DeMuth brings up an important point about the necessity of showing and not telling. Our written words should project a strong mental and emotional image to the reader, getting her involved to the point where she resonates with the character because the character has become a living, breathing human being. I’ve had that experience as a writer myself when I wrote Sissy! and All Parts Together. My character, Jessica Radford, in both of my novels still haunts me today. She’s real.

2009-05-08T06:39:00.010-05:00

How should a novel end?

by Tom Mach

© 2009 by Tom Mach

Actually, there’s no single answer to this question. A lot depends on the kind of novel it is, whether the novelist wants to “wrap things up” (as you would in a murder mystery), or if the novelist wants to leave some things undone—either because it would be more realistic or the novelist has another book in mind as a sequel or as a part of a trilogy and wants to hook you for the next book. I recall a lesson I learned from a dear writer friend of mine. She said, “Don’t go for a totally happy ending where everything is resolved and all of your characters now go trudging off into Never-Never-Land.” What she was saying was it’s okay to have a sad ending, as long as there is some hope that you can give the reader.

Do you remember Margaret Mitchell’s Gone With the Wind, where Scarlett’s lover Rhett has left her forever? She’s now on the barren Tara plantation, left with little else. But there’s a glimmer of hope in Scarlett’s soul. Despite her sadness she says, at the end of the book:

“I’ll think of it all tomorrow, at Tara. I can stand it then. Tomorrow, I’ll think of some way to get him back. After all, tomorrow is another day.” (That last sentence is one of the most important lines of the book.)

In my novel, All Parts Together, I have a protagonist named Jessica Radford who is desolate because her former lover, Matt is marrying another woman, her publisher no longer wants to accept her novels written about slavery, her hero—Abraham Lincoln—had been assassinated, and she feels betrayed by her adopted sister, Nellie. In a fury, she tosses her manuscript across the room. But there is a knock on her door. A stranger asks Jessica to become involved in another, even greater cause than slavery. Here is how I end that story (because I have in mind a forthcoming third novel of the Jessica trilogy)—

Jessica cleared her throat and put her hand to her warm forehead. “I’ll be there But first I need to clean up this awful mess that I’ve made.” (Note the symbolic twist I put at the end—the “mess” of her life versus the “mess” she made in her hotel room)

How should a novel end? I think it should end where the satisfied reader says to herself, “I know this character will survive. She’ll come out the better for it. I wish her well, and I’ll miss her very much.”

2009-05-07T13:53:00.003-05:00

The Music of the Sonnet

One of the first poems I memorized as a teenager (and still know over 50 years later) is this poem from Shakespeare:

Shall I compare thee to a Summer’s day?
Thou art more lovely and more temperate.
Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,
And Summer’s lease hath all too short a date.
Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines,
And oft is his gold complexion dimm’d,
And every fair to fair sometime declilnes,
By chance or nature’s changing course untrimm’d.
But thy eternal Summer shall not fade
Nor lose possession of that fair thou owest.
Nor shall Death brag thou wanderest in his shade,
When in eternal lines to time thou growest.

So long as men can breathe, or eyes can see,
So long lives this, and this gives life to thee.

I think I like this and similiar sonnets for two reasons. One, of course, is the deep meanings they hold for the reader. The poet in the above sonnet makes an interesting comparison between the lady he loves and nature. Even though nature can, at times, be harsh, his lady will always be beautiful him. Even old age and death will not diminish his love for her. Another reason I love this is because of the rhythm of the lines. I can probably put this entire sonnet to music because the words flow so gently. The mystique of the 17th century English language also adds to the beauty of this poem—such as the lady wandering in Death’s shade or the symbolism of “too hot the eye of heaven shines.”

The sonnet form of poetry is one several different poetry forms. Actually, the word “sonnet” means “little song” and it comes from either the Occitan word “sonnet” or the Italian word “sonnetto” Somehow, by the 13th century a sonnet was defined as a poem consisting of 14 lines with a certain kind of rhyme scheme. Shakespeare wrote 154 sonnets and these consisted of 14-line poems, written in iambic pentameter, which means it consists of a line ten syllables in length and accented on every second beat. For instance, in the above sonnet, we have shall I / compare thee/ to a/ summer’s day The rhyming patter goes like this: ABAB CDCD EFEF GG in which the last two lines are a rhyming couplet. In the above poem, “day” and “May” rhyme, “temperate” and “date” rhyme, “shines” and “declines” rhyme, etc.

There are many different types of sonnets, of course, but I didn’t want to write this blog as a boring lecture series. I just want you to enjoy the rhythm and music of the sonnet itself. Here’s one that I wrote that won a prize in a writing contest:

The Power of Words by Tom Mach

Winds of apathy will not shake me
though I am invisible to this crowd
or seen darkly, blurred and misty.
I shall leave you all, head bowed
so you can play your strident noise
while I open my book of words
to recount the sum of all my joys.
Words take wing like songbirds,
finding minds to touch and arouse,
where characters give love and reveal
imagined souls for me to browse.
Matters not if they be false or real.
Pages press scenes within my heart
and arrange my thoughts, part by part.

I know it’s not Shakespeare, but I love it since I wrote it. So there!

A haiku to the universe

2009-05-06T06:38:00.006-05:00

A haiku to the universe
by Tom Mach

planets move
nature spins orbs in circles
we are blind

2009-05-05T06:01:00.005-05:00

My novel, 52 years later …what did I learn?

by Tom Mach

© 2009 by Tom Mach

I thought I would share with you an example how years of experience with life, with reading a wide variety of books, with rubbing shoulders of accomplished writers, and with getting great writing guidance from numerous sources, my writing ability changed for the better. I wrote my first novel when I was 17 years old, and it was my crude, uninformed attempt at writing commercial fiction. Although I certainly know now that it is an example of bad writing, I wanted to show you the beginning of my chapter and then give you my explanation as to why I wrote that way. Below are the beginning three paragraphs of this novel…

The Boss’s Son by Tom Mach

Chapter One

It is on a blistering summer day that one finds people of the finest physical composition, defaming summer and everything connected with it. But there is one great reason, one momentous motive, for ardent summer lovers deserting their nature and becoming strict summer haters. These rash converts become so because most summer days are unbearably warm. To put it more bluntly, people get damn sick of the sticky heat of an average summer. To put it more modestly, once again, it seems that Nature was unreasonably cruel to one place in particular—New York.

The poet would express it this way: There was one advantage of the persecutions of the sun on this city. The city did not possess the aspects of a paved jungle; rather it became a monument of mountains in a prairie of pebbles. The sun, with its kaleidoscope of hues, made those mountains a noble work of art.

The man of the city who lived in the city and knew the city would more accurately describe the mountain skyscrapers as something more than towering objects of steel and stone. He would much more profoundly say that they were symbols of business, of man’s strife toward the industry of the nation, and of this way of making a living.
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I need to explain something here. First of all, the novels I read when I was 17 years old were the classics. So you can see, I used author intrusion and spent a lot of time philosophizing, writing in somewhat archaic language, just like many of the 18th and early 19th century authors did. Secondly, I never took a writing class and didn’t have anyone critique this for me, so I suffered under the delusion that what came out of my typewriter was what the finished draft should look like.

Speaking of that, I typed this 353-page novel of a Royal portable typewriter. I used carbon paper between sheets. When it came to correcting an error, I had to erase the error with an eraser on both the original sheet as well as the second page under the carbon paper. Obviously, this discouraged me greatly from doing any rewriting. Writers who are spoiled with the computer, allowing them to easily make changes, insertions, and deletions, don’t know the literal hell writers using typewriters had to go through.

An interesting aside to my experience is that I had sent this entire manuscript to a few major publishers (I didn’t know anything at the time about query letters, synopses, or sample chapters), and the publishers actually responded with personally typed rejection letters signed by either the editor himself or his assistant! That wouldn’t happen in today’s market without an agent.

At one time, I was going to toss out this novel, but I’m glad I didn’t. It’s always good to go back and reflect on why you wrote what you did at that age and how much progress you’ve made over the years.

2009-05-04T09:13:00.002-05:00

There are different ways for you to read a novel

by Tom Mach

© 2009 by Tom Mach

Believe it or not, there are different perspectives to reading a good novel. By “good” I mean novels that might stand the test of time. These don’t necessarily have to be classics such as Melville’s Moby Dick or Faulkner’s The Sound and the Fury. They can be authors such as Toni Morrison’s Song of Solomon or David Wroblewski’s The Story of Edgar Sawtelle. Good novels offer something more than a basic storyline, they offer a human experience. An example of a novel which is not in the “good” category is one sold in adult bookstores where the sole purpose of the novel is to provide sexual titillation and nothing more. It may even be devoid of any meaningful storyline.

Good novels can be read in different ways. One might read it for sheer entertainment value. You read a novel for diversion, as an escape from reality. Stories that are read strictly for this purpose deal primarily with the adventures of the protagonist. People read such novels to “find out what happens” but not to search for deep, hidden meanings. Many standard mystery and romance novels fall into this category.

A person might also read a novel as an artistic accomplishment. It is analyzed from the standpoint of artistic expression just as, say, the Mona Lisa painting. Here we are looking for subtleties in writing, for nuances in the way the author has expressed an idea. In Moby Dick, for instance, we can read it strictly as an adventure of a captain trying to find and kill a certain whale. Or, we can read it as a symbolic epic where evil (Captain Ahab) is struggling against humanity (the crew) to overtake and succumb spiritual goodness (the white whale). In college literature classes, novels are typically read as an artistic accomplishment.

We might also read a novel as a form of history. Novels take place in a certain time period. Science fiction, of course, occurs in the future so there’s no real “history” there. But other novels take place either in the present or the past and both time periods have some history attached to them. When we read a novel for its historical value, we look for certain facts rather than underlying interpretations of the work. We are more concerned about what happened to a given person as opposed to a more universal reality for all mankind. Clues given in the novel will show the reader what time period the story takes place. Mentions of particular songs, certain political events, or social trends (such as the advent of the Charleston dance craze) will tell us when the story takes place. There may be historical characters involved, and a reader may want to study what occurs in that novel concerning these characters and relate them to his or her own understanding of the facts. When I wrote All Parts Together, I took particular care to ensure that everything Abraham Lincoln did or said would stand the test of intense scrutiny so that it would serve as a good source of history.

You may also want to read a novel for any technical information it may contain. Certainly Melville’s Moby Dick tells us a lot about sailing and whales. Grapes of Wrath shows the social prejudice toward migrants at that time. Medical thrillers such as Coma give us a very good idea of medical technology.

Stevens and Musial in Reading, Discussing, and Writing about The Great Books tell us that “fiction may be defined as the truth told or implied about a moral result that follows from thinking certain thoughts, holding certain values, and doing certain kinds of actions in a special kind of world.” Even though a novel springs from a writer’s imagination, it may also spring from certain universal truths. Some readers never read novels because they want to access “truth” that they believe only comes from nonfiction works

But I believe truth can also come from fiction.

--Tom Mach

2009-05-03T06:44:00.003-05:00

A Few Thoughts About Our Universe

by Tom Mach

© 2009 by Tom Mach

It is unfortunate that many of us in the evening will sit in our living rooms watching television when just outside our door an incredible event is taking place. Planets suspended on nothing are spinning about; the sun is shining on the other side of the globe; the stars—an enormous number of light years away from us—are blinking back. On a particularly dark night, especially if you live away from the bright lights of the city, you can just lean back in your chair and watch the vastness of the sky. It’s even more incredible if you peer through a telescope and begin to see those celestial objects appear even closer

I know we take such things for granted, and I’m certain guilty of that as well. But as you gaze at the stars, at the bright moon, at the shining white orb of Venus, you have to wonder how did it all get here, and why is it here? And during the day, if you visit a zoo and see a giraffe with its long neck, a monkey flipping from branch to branch, or a hummingbird in rapid-motion flight …or if you walk through a garden and see the different colors and shapes of such flowers as hibiscus, orchids, roses, tulips, dahlias, rhododendrons….or if you gaze across open country and see rolling meadows, a lake flickering with tiny specks from the sun, trees of different kinds, fields, streams—if you experience such a great abundance, such a tremendous variety of beauty, how can you possibly think that this was all the result of a Big Bang and the happenstance of random molecules colliding with each other over billions of years? How can you not think there must have been some thought and design behind all of this?

I know that I’ll probably get angry emails from atheists and agnostics, but I don’t care. I’m not trying to convert anyone into my way of thinking of a Supreme Being or some Creative Intelligence. Believe whatever you want to believe, but for me, there is God who put this together for us. Yes, there are other things that are not as pleasant—children being born deformed or killer hurricanes or catastrophic earthquakes I can’t explain why these things also exist, just as I can’t explain why some people refuse to forgive others for things they’ve done or why some people find no shame in robbing or murdering I would be wiser than anyone who has ever existed if I knew the reason for all those things.

But I choose to look at the wonderment of the universe and I have to ask myself if such creation is so magnificent, so marvelous to behold, then what must the Creator be like? And if He’s created all these wonderful things, and if He’s created us with the ability to appreciate these things and to feel profound emotions like love and joy, then perhaps we ought to put our iPods away for awhile, we ought to stop tweeting our silly message for the time being, we ought to turn off the TV, we ought to take a walk in the park, we ought to look around, and then…

…we ought to thank Him.

A Child's Closing Prayer

(poem taken from Tom Mach's The Uni Verse)

The lake is smooth and as still as death

lbut an occasional cricket shatters the silence.

"Grandpa," I begin, but he shushes me.

I follow his gaze to the evening sky,

all pierced with white dots

while a round white moon

touches the darkness.

"God is here," he whispers.

"Where," I ask, frowning.

But I see his smile.

amd I understand

2009-05-02T14:01:00.002-05:00

My Personal Thoughts as a Writer (Part 3)

by Tom Mach
© 2009 by Tom Mach

If you’re a novelist, you may know what I’m talking about when I say sometimes there’s a character and a story that you absolutely must write about. It happened to me when I moved to Lawrence, Kansas. Although I am a Civil War buff of sorts, I had no knowledge about a man named William Quantrill who, in 1863, rode through this town and killed almost 200 men and boys, innocent civilians. Quantrill’s gang of ruffians looted liquor stores, robbed safes, and killed people who just happened to be there. I imagined it to be a horrible sight. One evening, as I lay in bed, I had a vision of sorts of a woman named Jessica Radford who was a young woman about 19 or 20 who was fiercely independent and survived the Quantrill raid. This woman came alive to me. I could see her face, saw how she carried herself, heard how she talked, felt the emotions she felt. I knew that she had to be a character in my novel. Later, a name popped out at me from nowhere—Sissy. I “heard” a young African American slave girl about 10 years old yelling out the name “Sissy!” It was the slave’s name—it was the name of a Negro angel. And that name became the title of my first published novel: SISSY!

Now I look back at this as a gift, because in novels I had attempted to write before, I struggled with the characters and had to think hard about the plot. Not with SISSY! I told my wife I knew Jessica so well, I almost felt as if I were having an affair. In fact, the highest compliment anyone gave me was from a friend who asked me where Jessica was buried. He was shocked when I told him Jessica was a fictional character.

When I first started writing fiction, I was not being able to make my characters truly come to life—i.e., make them as real to the reader as possible. Because Jessica came alive to me, as did Sissy—the angel in my story—I decided to do a trilogy. My second novel ALL PARTS TOGETHER showed what happened to Jessica from the day after that Quantrill raid to the weeks following the Lincoln assassination. In this latter book, I took great pains to make Abraham Lincoln a real character, so I studied everything I could about him. During my research, I uncovered facts about the man I had never known before, such as his quick wit, his interest in photography, the way he loved his son Tad, etc. I also got in touch with an author who thoroughly investigated the assassination and I was able to use that information with his permission to create a very dramatic scene in ALL PARTS TOGETHER.

Since then, I have written the third book of that trilogy and it is still with my agent, looking for a publisher. I’ve also written a children’s chapter book that was test-marketed with three groups of school children (they all loved it), and I rewrote the thriller novel that was originally rejected because it was too long. I’m now rewriting yet an additional novel for which I had an agent years ago but who had not really aggressively tried to find a publisher for it.

I’m also doing workshops on writing, but frankly I don’t find it as fascinating as writing.

By the way, I want to tell you about my poetry writing and playwriting experiences, but that will have to wait until next time. See you later!

---Tom Mach

2009-05-01T13:27:00.004-05:00

My Personal Thoughts as a Writer (Part 2)

by Tom Mach
© 2009 by Tom Mach

I think I left last time talking about writing articles for publication. I’d like to relate a true story. When I started writing articles for the Meredith Sun Newspaper Group back in the late 70s, I recall celebrating when my first article was published and I received a check for $25 for it. It was only months earlier that I had decided to write articles. I had gone to a writer’s convention and showed a woman a copy of an article I had written. She told me it wasn’t very good. I was crushed, so I asked her to tell me what kinds of articles SHE had written and published. You know what she told me? None. There she was—the grand “queen” of writing, telling me my piece wouldn’t work and she herself had never published anything! That thought me one thing—people who claim they are writers but don’t write are deceiving themselves and others.

Back to my story, however. After I submitted my first article to the Meredith Sun Group of newspapers (which servicee the entire South Bay surrounding San Jose, CA), the editor asked for an article a week, and I gave it to her. Finally, after having published six months’ worth of articles, the editor asked my not to write for her anymore. Crestfallen, I asked her why. She said that I write too well for the newspapers and I ought to write for magazines. So I did, and I wrote on a variety of topics for a myriad number of magazines. Receiving money in the mail for all those pieces didn’t thrill me as much as seeing my byline. One day I went to a Writers Digest workshop where the editor-in-chief gave a talk. After the meeting, I asked him what he thought about an article on stress that I thought about writing. He told me to send him a query on it, which I did. Another WD editor responded, asking me to expand on my topic and I did that. Then he asked for a draft. I send him that (by the way, this was before the internet or email was invented). He suggested a number of revisions, and I made changes and sent it back to him. Then he returned it to me for further editing. Finally, I received a galley in the mail, and months later, my article on Writing Stress made the cover of the magazine. I felt ten feet tall. I went to our California Writers Convention that year, and people were lined up asking me to autograph copies of the magazine for them. What a rush that was!

During this time, I did attempt to get a book published. (I should preface this by saying that when I was 17 years old I wrote a complete novel, sent it off to publishers, got rejected, although a vanity press gave me a glowing review and urged me to get it published. I didn’t know anything about vanity presses at the time and to this day, I’m grateful my mom denied my request to send in any payment.) Anyway, many years later, I wrote a how-to book on marketing research, secured a literary agent for it. The agent made two or three tries with publishers and told me he won’t be able to sell it because the market demand for the book is probably under 5,000 copies. So I gave up on that one and tried my hand at writing fiction. I discovered that while article writing kept me pumped up with how to spin a phrase, come up with interesting transitions, do my research well, and end up with a readable and informative piece—I had to learn how to write differently for fiction. I did manage to get a short story published in Stamp World magazine. I also wrote three partial novel manuscripts, a complete novel dealing with the clerical abuse situation, and a thriller. While I couldn’t find an agent for those earlier works, I did find one for the thriller. She sent it out to several New York publishers, all of whom returned it but with glowing letters indicating how well it was plotted and the writing style (One publisher said he thought I wrote like Tom Clancy). Their objections were twofold: (1) they weren’t looking for the thriller genre at that time, and (2) my manuscript was way too long (over 800 pages). At that point, I gave up and didn’t write for quite a while.

Along the way of learning my craft, I learned things about fiction writing that served me well. I will share those experiences with you next time.

---Tom Mach

2009-04-30T10:23:00.006-05:00

101 Best Websites in 2008 For Writers

(from Writer's Digest Magazine: http://www.writersdigest.com/101BestSites/?m_nYear=2008&m_sCategory=all)

I personally found many of these websites quite useful. They serve different purposes, obviously, so you might want to group them in specific folders for later use, such as a "Query" Folder, a "Fiction" Folder, etc.

Absolute Writeabsolutewrite.com
No matter which branch of writing interests you, you’ll be able to find helpful tips at Absolute Write. Just signing up for its e-newsletter will net you a free list of agents.
Agent Nathan Bransford's Blognathanbransford.blogspot.com
San Francisco agent Nathan Bransford dishes the dirt on being an agent. Also, his series called “The Essentials (Please Read Before You Query)” is, well, an essential read.
Agent Queryagentquery.com
Agent Query is a free, searchable database of agents. With just a few clicks you’ll be able to find one who represents your genre.
Agent Researchagentresearch.com/agent_ver.html
Do you need to verify the record of an agent? Check with this site first. It searches public records for all reports on the business practices of agencies, so you can find out whether it’s worth pursuing a particular agent or not.
Armchair Interviewsarmchairinterviews.com
Take off your glasses, kick up your feet, relax and listen to interviews with some debut and bestselling authors. Armchair Interviews also offers an excellent list of resources.
Author MBAauthormba.com/resources/blog_insiders.htm
Check out the 20-plus articles provided by Author MBA to improve your writing, marketing and career. Joanne Rock’s “A writer’s guide to managing work & the holidays” is an especially good read.
Backspacebksp.org
After a little makeover, Backspace continues to offer feature articles, columns and industry news. The “Your Write Mind” columns are great reads. However, if you want to be a part of its forum, it’ll cost you a small fee.
Book in a Weekbook-in-a-week.com
This site’s motto is “butt in chair, hands on keyboard, typing away madly”—and you’ll need to adhere to it if you want to live up to the challenge. You have one week to put all excuses in your sock drawer and write as much as you possibly can. It’s definitely fun—and rewarding.
Brainy Quotebrainyquote.com
Need a famous quote for your article? Stop by Brainy Quote and search by topic, author or type to find the words of wisdom (or humor) you desire.
Buried in the Slush Pilecbaybooks.blogspot.com
Buried in the Slush Pile covers juvenile writing. You’ll notice a helpful glossary of publishing terms—now even we know what “F&G” means. (ps- This isn't actually an agent blog—it's an author blog—but the information provided is great.)
C. Hope Clark’s Funds for Writersfundsforwriters.com
Freelancers on the prowl for jobs and cash need to look no further. This site offers up the big four—grants, contests, fellowships and markets—that pay. Plus, C. Hope Clark’s free e-newsletter is a must read for all who freelance.
Christian Storytellerchristianstoryteller.com
While the bright colors and cluttered design are hard on the eyes, the information is great for Christian writers who are looking for support and networking with other writers. There’s a small fee if you want a personal webpage on the site, though.
Coffee Time Romance & Morecoffeetimeromance.com
Love is in the air—for romance writing. Share your thoughts, book blurbs and more on this forum. Also, get your book reviewed and read interviews with a number of romance authors.
CoolStuff4Writers.comcoolstuff4writers.com
This site has always had some of the coolest novelty items, such as writerly T-shirts, drink koozies and squeezable stress relievers. Now it also offers more content by way of interviews and articles.
Crime-Writers Yahoo Groupgroups.yahoo.com/group/crime-writers
This group is listed for those who are interested in writing or are currently writing crime fiction (including police procedurals, noir, hard-boiled, etc.). And with more than 650 members, it’s a must-visit for crime writers.
Critique Groups for Writerscritiquegroups.com
Members of this site can form private groups to workshop their writing. There’s also a section dedicated to publishing news, agents and signings.
Dictionary.com Translaterdictionary.reference.com/translate
Do you have an English phrase that you need translated to Spanish? This site will help bring your characters to life—even if they speak a different language than you do.
Drew's Script-O-Ramascript-o-rama.com
To be the best you must read the best. Find your favorite movie and TV scripts for free in this database.
Duotrope's Digestduotrope.com
Enjoy a free submissions tracker with this database of more than 2,000 markets for short fiction, poetry and novels/collections. Search functions include medium, payscale, accepts reprints and more.
Ed(2010)ed2010.com
Take a batch of young magazine editors who want to learn more about the industry, share that info and meet other young editors and you get Ed(2010). Some of the site is still under construction, but what’s finished is can’t-miss material.
Edit Rededitred.com
Head over to Edit Red for peer critiques, publishing tips and opportunities to promote your writing and connect with publishers. The site offers a free personal webpage, and promotion and marketing tools.
Fanstoryfanstory.com
Founded in 2000, this site presents free contests and peer-to-peer reviews. One fairly unique feature offered by the site is the ability to create your own contest and challenge other writers.
Fiction Factorfictionfactor.com
This site features tips on writing better fiction, improving your writing, getting published, and promoting and marketing your fiction.
FirstWriter.comfirstwriter.com
Search through 750 literary agencies and 900 book publishers to find one that suits your work.
ForWriters.comforwriters.com
The real value in this site, a great source for market and event listings, is its list of writer organizations and groups spanning the world.
Freelance Writing Jobsfreelancewritinggigs.com
Deborah Ng’s Freelance Writing Jobs is filled with available freelance gigs. There’s also a special section dedicated to blogging jobs.
Freelance Writing Organization-Int’lfwointl.com
With more than 11,000 registered members (membership is free), Freelance Writing Organization-Int’l offers thousands of online resources and job offerings. It also gives members a free blog listing (as long as the blog deals with writing).
Horror Writers Associationhorror.org
Do you model your writing after Stephen King? If so, the Horror Writers Association is the perfect place for you to get tips, advice and the latest news on this niche.
J.A. Konrath’s A Newbie’s Guide to Publishingjakonrath.blogspot.com
J.A. Konrath’s A Newbie’s Guide to Publishing blog provides great information for new (and veteran) fiction writers. He also has links to plenty of good resources.
Janet Reid's Literary Blogjetreidliterary.blogspot.com
Janet Reid, a literary agent with FinePrint Literary Management in New York City, specializes in crime fiction and shares query pitfalls to help you avoid rookie mistakes.
Jennifer Jackson's Et in Arcaedia, Ego Blogarcaedia.livejournal.com
With the motto, “Saving the world, one book sale at a time,” literary agent Jennifer Jackson shares news, notes and opinions on the industry, including a sneak peek at her query round-up.
JournalismJobs.comjournalismjobs.com
Everything you need to know is in the Web address (though we’ll add that they have an excellent listing of industry events).
Kid Magazine Writerskidmagwriters.com
Get the latest news, info and tips on writing for kids here. Plus, this site offers a wealth of paying children’s markets.
Literary Law Guideliterarylawguide.com/resources.htm
Get the latest in copyright news from this intellectual property lawyer. “What Every Writer Should Know About Copyright” is a great introductory article that all writers should read.
Long Story Shortlongstoryshort.us
The goal of this e-zine is to take the intimidation out of the querying process by replying personally to every author and by offering suggestions on how to improve your work. This site publishes stories in many different genres, including flash fiction, humor, poetry and even book chapters.
Lori Perkins' Agent in the Middleagentinthemiddle.blogspot.com
Let literary agent Lori Perkins guide you around the NYC agent scene. Plus, she has great insight into horror, social science fiction, dark fantasy, dark literary novels and erotica—her specialties.
Marcela Landresmarcelalandres.com
Stay on top of the latest Latino/Hispanic literary events, contests and writing opportunities by reading this former Simon & Schuster editor’s site.
Media Job Marketeditorandpublisherjobs.com
Looking for a job? This site has searchable classifieds so you can find a writing-related job in your area.
MediaBistromediabistro.com
Stay informed on publishing industry news and network with other writers around the globe. This is one of the best spots for journalism and freelance jobs around.
Merriam-Websterm-w.com
When it comes to word-lover reference material, it’s hard to beat Merriam-Webster’s online dictionary and thesaurus. Besides the basic functions, it provides word games, a spelling quiz, a Word of the Day and the “Word for the Wise” podcast.
Mike’s Writing Workshopgroups.yahoo.com/group/mikeswritingworkshop
Can’t find a local writing group? At Mike’s Writing Workshop, you’ll find a community of nearly 9,000 writers willing to share information and critique your work.
Mom Writer's Literary Magazinemomwriterslitmag.com
This online literary magazine for writer moms features articles on the ups, downs and challenges of motherhood.
Moontown Cafemoontowncafe.com
Kick off your shoes, curl up under your favorite blanket, grab a virtual latte and cozy up with this site for poets. You’re welcome to post some of your own poetry for feedback—all they ask is that you rate two poems for each poem you post.
Movie Bytesmoviebytes.com
Who wouldn’t love to get a script noticed by winning a contest? Well, there’s no better place to find one than in the Movie Bytes contest directory. Of course, if you eventually win an Oscar, you’ll have to thank Writer’s Digest in your acceptance speech.
My Writers Circlemywriterscircle.com
This forum boasts nearly 6,000 members and an active critique section. There’s also a job board, a resource center and a section of writing games.
National Novel Writing Monthnanowrimo.org
One of the most well-known writing challenges in the writing community, National Novel Writing Month (November) pushes you to write 50,000 words in 30 days.
Newbie-Writers.comnewbie-writers.com
Starting your writing career can be nerve-racking, but feel at ease on this site, which has fellow newbies. Subscribe to its free e-newsletter and receive an 85-page e-book resource guide.
Noodle Toolsnoodletools.com/debbie/literacies/basic/yngwrite.html
This site provides links to plenty of writing opportunities for youngsters, including ones that pay.
Novely Journeynoveljourney.blogspot.com
This site offers a great collection of interviews with authors, editors and freelancers. It’s updated daily.
OnceWritten.comoncewritten.com
If you’ve yet to be published or are a newly published author, this site has a lot of goodies for you. From original book reviews and book giveaway contests to writing prompts, this is a good destination for beginners.
Preditors & Editorsanotherealm.com/prededitors
Telling the difference between a professional contest and a scam can be hard, but thanks to Preditors & Editors you don’t have to sweat it. Dive into this site to find out which writing-related services, contests, organizations, etc., are worth your time and which aren’t.
Publishers Marketplacepublishersmarketplace.com
Check out this site’s job board, which is filled with gigs from editing to marketing to production. It can be an excellent way to get your foot in the door. Also, there’s a place to announce your book deal.
Publishing Questionspublishingquestions.com
If you’re looking for a crash course on getting published, look no further. This site provides an abbreviated version of the process.
Query TrackerQueryTracker.net
For those in need of an agent, this site allows writers to upload their query letters and agent experiences, building a database of information. The experiences are then combined to show trends and actions of individual agents so you know what to expect when querying them.
R.A.W. SISTAZ Literary Grouprawsistaz.com
This group focuses on reading, writing and discussing books primarily by African-American authors. The Writer’s Block section is filled with tips. Plus, according to the site, all books sent to them are reviewed. That’s right, all books.
Rachelle Gardner’s Rants & Ramblingscba-ramblings.blogspot.com
Rachelle Gardner’s Rants & Ramblings covers her life as a Christian writing literary agent and includes news, trends and advice on the publishing industry.
Refdesk.comrefdesk.com
If you’re looking for “Of the Day” trivia to get your brain functioning each morning, stop on by this site. It offers tons of tidbits that you probably didn’t know—and may lead you to a story idea.
Resources for Muslim Writersmuslimwriters.blogspot.com
Hey Muslim writers, you’ll want to bookmark this site. From writing competitions to jobs for writers, editors and journalists, this site houses opportunities and news for those looking for publishing success.
Rob Parnell’s Easy Way to Writeeasywaytowrite.com
Rob Parnell’s Easy Way to Write is filled with lots of freebies for writers in several markets, including poetry, flash fiction and e-zine fiction (that actually pays). The forum is relatively small, but the blog is an entertaining read.
Robyn Opie's Writing For Childrenrobynopie.com
This children’s book author delivers dozens of free articles on constructing, writing, editing and publishing your children’s book. There are also two books available for free download.
Romance Divasromancedivas.com
What’s not to like about a site whose motto is “unleash your inner diva”? Join the Romance Divas for advice on the craft and business of writing romances, and share stories about your life and career with this fun writing community.
Romance Writing Tipsgroups.msn.com/RomanceWritingTips
This site showcases some of the best tips for romance writers. And while this group doesn’t critique, it offers plenty of links to groups that do.
Sharing with Writers and Readerssharingwithwriters.blogspot.com
Looking for cheap ways to promote your book? Carolyn Howard-Johnson shares tips to get your book out to the world at a low cost. Sign up for her free e-newsletter to have most of the information delivered right to your inbox.
Shawguideswriting.shawguides.com
Use this database to find a writing conference near you.
Smith Mag Six Word Challengesmithmag.net/sixwords
Can you write your memoir in only six words? This is a thrilling challenge that encourages you to write sharply and concisely.
Social Security Administration Popular Baby Namesssa.gov/OACT/babynames
Need character names that suit your 1920s setting? The Social Security website has the most accurate list of popular names from 1879 to the present.
The Eighteen Questionseighteenquestions.com
Also known as 18Q, this site is designed to share the views and experiences of published authors for novice writers in a series of 18 questions. More than 100 authors have taken the quiz.
The Erotica Readers & Writers Associationerotica-readers.com
If you like the extra randy stuff, check out this site, dedicated to erotica writers and writing. It’s a great place for tips and stories, but definitely not a playground for the youngsters.
The Internet Writing Workshopinternetwritingworkshop.org
If you’re not into message boards, The Internet Writing Workshop offers discussions and critiques delivered right to your e-mail inbox. There’s no fee for this service, but there’s a minimum participation time of 30 minutes a week.
The Jewish Writing Institutejewishwriting.com
This site is for e-mail and correspondence classes, but if you dig a little you’ll find some of the best resources for Jewish writing and publishing. Tamar Wisemon’s article on Jewish magazine and newspaper markets is a must read.
The MuseItUp Clubfreewebs.com/themuseonlinewritersconference
Hard to beat a free online writing conference, and that’s exactly what The MuseItUp Club offers. The group acknowledges that writers often have insufficient funds to travel across the country, so they bring a weekend of professional advice to your office (or wherever your computer is set up).
The MuseItUp Club Critique Groupmuseitupclub.tripod.com
Critique groups are limited to five people so your work can get more personal attention. They’ve added a workshop forum for members to discuss monthly workshop topics.
The Poetry in Colorjpicforum.info
The Poetry in Color forum solicits poets of all backgrounds and encourages quality peer-to-peer feedback on members’ writings. This site isn’t censored, so leave the kids at home.
The Poetry Market Ezinethepoetrymarket.com
Get your poetry markets, contests, reviews and news from this free monthly e-zine.
The Publicity Houndpublicityhound.com
Consultant Joan Stewart shares tips on self-promotion and how to get free publicity—a key for any writer living on a tight budget.
The Publishing Law Centerpublaw.com
From fair use of trademarks to electronic rights, attorney Lloyd L. Rich provides dozens of helpful articles on topics important to the writing community.
The Rejecter Blogrejecter.blogspot.com
This assistant at an NYC literary agency rejects 95 percent of the queries that cross her desk—and blogs about them. She also answers questions about the process and offers up advice on getting your query past her desk.
The Story Starterthestorystarter.com
If a daily prompt isn’t enough to stuff your writing appetite, check out this site. Get a random story-starter sentence from more than 340 million (yes, you read that correctly) choices. Just one click of a button and you’re on your way.
The Teacher's Cornertheteacherscorner.net/daily-writing-prompts/index.htm
Looking for inspiration? These daily writing prompts aren’t only fun, but relate to the date (September 5 is National Cheese Pizza Day—who knew?).
The Urban Musetheurbanmuse.blogspot.com
The Urban Muse is populated with excellent tips on writing, marketing and staying creative. Don’t miss the “5 Ways to Promote Your Blog” post; great advice.
The Wild Poetry Forumwildpoetryforum.com
A poet’s heaven, this extremely active forum welcomes all poetry buffs 13 years old and up. Just be sure to keep your work clean for the children.
The Writer's Resource Directorycarolkluz.homestead.com/index1.html
Carol Kluz’s site has hundreds of resources for writers. Note that not all of the links work, but most of the ones that do are valuable.
The Writers Societythewriterssociety.com
If too many people overwhelm you, here’s a small forum that may suit your needs. It’s focused heavily on fiction, but there’s some poetry and nonfiction as well.
The Writing Bridgethewritingbridge.org
This private writing workshop is always seeking new members, but you have to be serious about the craft. If you make it through the approval process, you’ll have access to critique forums and creative writing prompts.
The Young Writers Societyyoungwriterssociety.com
If you’re a young writer (think under 18) and looking for support, look no further. The Young Writers Society offers kids and teens a space to share work, chat, blog and more. This site also discourages “netspeak,” which is good news for grammar buffs.
Today’s Womantodays-woman.net
Today’s Woman has nearly 1,000 members who participate in its forum, online critiques and weekly contests. Women aren’t the only ones taking part (43 percent of the members are men), but they’re highly active in this site.
Trent Steele’s Write Streetwritestreet.com
Trent Steele’s Write Street is a good place to find recommended writing books, articles on the writing craft and inspirational quotes.
United States Copyright Officecopyright.gov
Everything you need to know about copyright law is right here, along with the option to register your work for extra protection (for a fee). We recommend bookmarking the FAQ section.
Wikipediawikipedia.org
For the public, updated by the public, Wikipedia makes for an excellent starting point when you’re researching a subject. But use it only as a diving board to better sources. (See Questions & Quandaries, p. 65 for a better explanation.)
Winning Writerswinningwriters.com
Gain access to 150 poetry contests by subscribing to its free e-newsletter (and more than 750 if you upgrade to its premium membership). Plus, enter its famous Wergle Flomp Humor Poetry Contest, which searches for the “best humor poem that has been sent to a ‘vanity poetry contest’ as a joke.”
WordTripwordtrip.com
With 4,500 registered users, this site offers a forum to discuss all forms of writing. The extra good news is it’s kid-friendly—there are ratings to let you know if something has explicit content.
Worldwide Freelance Writerworldwidefreelance.com/writing.htm
Sign up for this site’s e-newsletter and receive access to a list of more than 500 magazine market listings. There’s also a European market listing available through a subscription.
WOW! Women on Writingwow-womenonwriting.com
This e-zine caters specifically to women in the writing community, dishing out interviews (and tips) from popular female writers.
Writer Bewaresfwa.org/beware
One of the most notable watchdogs for the writing community, Writer Beware shares information on writing scams, problematic agents and publishers, and more. New to the site is a blog where writers can share info in the comments section.
Writer Gazettewritergazette.com
In its fourth consecutive year on the list (sixth overall), this site lives up to its tagline: “Bringing you free writer-related articles, paying call for submission and freelance job postings, contests, resources, tips, and more to help induce, improve, and promote your writing career—every week.”
Writer Site Outwritesideout.com
Looking for a Christmas present for yourself? Here you can find free, printable posters and bookmarks showcasing quotes from some of your favorite authors. All you need is a printer.
Writer Unboxedwriterunboxed.com
Through interviews and discussion of craft, Writer Unboxed dissects genre-fiction writing. Its daily updates are a nice way to start your day (if you’re a genre-fiction writer).
Writers FMwritersfm.com
Created by writers for writers, this online radio station broadcasts author interviews, writing prompts, music to inspire and mini-mysteries. Most of the material is available for podcast download.
WritersNetwriters.net/agents.html
Brazil, Hong Kong, Jamaica—find an agent nearly anywhere in the world.
Writing.comwriting.com
This site welcomes writers of all levels. Sign up and get a free online portfolio, numerous user tools, e-mail services and a chance to network with other writers.
WritingFixwritingfix.com
Here’s another fun site that creates writing prompts on the spot. The site currently has several options—prompts for right-brained people, for left-brained people, for kids—and is working to add prompts on classic literature, music and more.

2009-04-29T15:02:00.011-05:00

Making the Transition From Story to Play

by Tom Mach
©2009 by Tom Mach

I always wondered what it would be like to make the transition from a short story or novel to a stage play (or screenplay). I made that transition and found I had to think differently and write differently when doing a screenplay versus a novel. I wrote and rewrote my play at least a dozen times. My agent loved it and is showing it around the New York playhouses. But the transition from fiction to playwriting wasn’t an easy one. Hence, I am sharing with you a few basic things a fiction writer must face when writing a play, and these include the following:

Difficult, if not impossible, to get into a character’s mind.
In fiction, we have the ability to write omnisciently, which means we are able to communicate to the reader what the character is thinking. Usually, this cannot be done when writing a play. I say “usually” because I’ve used a device in writing a play whereby the character’s thoughts are transmitted to the audience via a loudspeaker. But even with this device, we are limited in not being able to describe the character’s true feelings as we could if we described them in fiction.

Need for some minimum scene and stage directions.
In fiction, we can describe beautiful vistas, wide oceans, a quiet forest, a city landscape—and we can do so with considerable detail so a reader can visualize the background where the story takes place. In plays, we don’t describe the full stage set, we don’t need to because the audience is able to see it for themselves. We, as playwrights, do have to give some minimal description on the set and stage directions. For instance, in my play “Real Characters,” I open it with a bachelor part sign, party streamers, men standing about and chatting, drinks in their hands. I don’t describe the size of the room, the wallpaper, the name of the hotel, etc., which I might have done if I were writing a novel.

Pace and plot depend almost entirely on dialogue.
While dialogue is important in fiction, it is virtually the only major tool you have in playwriting. In plays, as in fiction, dialogue has to describe character and move the plot along. However, in fiction, we can help create a more distinct character by describing the physical and emotional traits that character has—and we can help move the plot along by describing action in very specific terms. We can do flashbacks to get a sense of the past and how it affects the future. We can show several scene changes with no problem.

Very restrictive scenes—often plays take place in one location
That brings to mind another important point. We have considerably fluidity in fiction. We change scenes, we go into different points-of-view, we can focus on a specific object and describe it. But plays are very restrictive and necessarily so. It costs money to design and change sets. The fewer the scene changes the better. Some of the best plays have occurred with only one set design.

You have to format what you type very differently

Script formats are very different from formats used in typing a novel. For instance, you need to type the brief scene description from the center margin, type the name of the character speaking in caps and center it, type in any important motion that character makes (laugh, taking something out of his pocket, etc) directly beneath the character’s name, double-space between speakers but single-space the dialogue of a given character. Here is an example from my copyrighted play “Real Characters.:-- (Please note that the line spacing and indentation in my example below is incorrect as shown since I am unable to make it appear on this blog as it should. ACT ONE is centered, skip two lines. Then, SCENE 1 is centerd and copy below it is single-spaced. There is a double space next, "FIRST MAN" is centered while (shakes his head in disbelief) is also centered on the next line. Then skip a space and the dialogue of the FIRST MAN starts about 1 inch from the left-hand side of the page)

ACT ONE

SCENE 1

A banquet hall. “Farwell, Bachelor Buddy”

sign and party streamers hand above. Four men

in their 20s, all with cocktails in hand, toast their

friend Troy Hudson, who will marry Lillian

Martin next week.

FIRST MAN
(shakes his head in disbelief)

Troy Hudson, are you sure we can’t talk you out of it?

SECOND MAN
(claps Troy on the back)

You can still drop out and keep your freedom, you know.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I could go on, but get the idea. Screenplay writing is different in many respects from fiction writing. But these forms of writing have two things in common: they must tell a captivating story and they must have compelling characters that become very real to the audience. It takes a while to learn how to switch modes of thinking and writing, but it is well worth it.

2009-04-28T10:10:00.002-05:00

My Personal Thoughts as a Writer (Part I)

by Tom Mach

©2009 by Tom Mach

I thought I would take a few minutes to give you what insight I can on writing and marketing. Some of this will reflect my own prejudices, so bear with me if you don’t agree 100% with what I’m about to say. My thoughts are not based on books, on English courses, on the wisdom of a tenure-track literature professor, but it’s based on my personal experience.

First, of all I am very suspicious of people who claim they sat down with no training at all, got on a computer, wrote a book, sent it off to a publisher, got it published and made money. I’m sorry, but I think the chances of that happening are slimmer than a herd of elephants running amok in my house.

The truth is: you wouldn’t want to undergo an operation by a person off the street who thought he could do it, with no medical background, training, and degree. You wouldn’t be comfortable being flown in a jet by a lady who wanted to see what it’d be like to fly the darned thing even though she’s never even been in a cockpit. So why in the world do you think you can just crank out a novel, a book of poetry, or a nonfiction work without not only training but extensive experience?

Secondly, I think before you write a novel you ought to get exposure to writing magazine articles. Learn how to write for that particular magazine, study past issues, know the word count, know the reader, query first (don’t write the article beforehand), Then do the things that make the article once you get the “green light” from the editor. Create an interesting beginning paragraph, show some logic of thought while being interesting at the same time, add photographs if necessary to spice up your piece, etc.

Third, write only in the areas of your interest. Some say write only from your personal experience, but I don’t agree with that. Do all the research you need to do before you begin writing. Experience that research, absorb it into your system. I used to write articles on subjects I’ve never personally experienced. I received praise fro my article on river rafting, but I’ve never even been in a raft. I did a great piece on soaring, but I’ve soared in a glider. But I researched. I studied. I imagined. I worked myself to the point where I believe I “experienced” it.

Speaking of writing only in the areas of your interest, at one time in my career I was jealous in seeing how writers were able to write for firms such as Harlequin and other romance publishers and I thought, “Well, I can do that too.” No, I can’t. I attempted to read one of those books and couldn’t even get to the end of the first chapter without feeling a bit nauseous. Don’t get me wrong—I admire the folks who can spin a great romance, but if I can’t read one, how can I write it?

I’ve got more, much more, to say on the subject of my experiences in writing. So I’ll continue from here next time.

2009-04-27T07:11:00.001-05:00

A Surprising List of Authors
Who Have Self-Published

(source: John Kremer, editor of the Book Marketing Update Newsletter)

I don’t know where people get the idea that if you’re self-published you can’t be any good. I think they believe that if "legitimate” publishers like Random House or Doubleday didn’t break down your door to have the privilege of publishing your book, you must stink as a writer. While it is true there are some writers who need to improve their talent and hire a good editor to proof their work, they are in the minority. Other writers consider self-publishing as a means of making far more money on (and have more control of) your work than you can expect from a commercial “name” publisher

In summary, self-publishing doesn’t deserve this “black eye.” Need proof? Read a partial list below of self-publishers and see if you recognize any names. I think this list will shock you. It did me.

· Margaret Atwood
· L. Frank Baum (author of Wizard of Oz)
· William Blake
· Ken Blanchard
· Robert Bly
· Elizabeth Barrett Browning
· Lord Byron
· Willa Cather
· Pat Conroy
· Stephen Crane (Red Badge of Courage)
· e.e. cummings
· W.E.B. DuBois
· Alexander Dumas
· T.S. Eliot
· Lawrence Ferlinghetti
· Benjamin Franklin
· Zane Grey
· Thomas Hardy
· E. Lynn Harris
· Nathaniel Hawthorne
· Ernest Hemingway (name sound familiar?)
· Robinson Jeffers
· Spencer Johnson
· Stephen King (name sound familiar?)
· Rudyard Kipling
· Louis L'Amour
· D.H. Lawrence
· Rod McKuen
· Marlo Morgan
· John Muir
· Anais Nin
· Thomas Paine
· Tom Peters
· Edgar Allen Poe
· Alexander Pope
· Beatrix Potter
· Ezra Pound
· Marcel Proust
· Irma Rombauer
· Carl Sandburg
· Robert Service
· George Bernard Shaw
· Percy Bysshe Shelley
· Upton Sinclair
· Gertrude Stein
· William Strunk
· Alfred Lord Tennyson
· Henry David Thoreau
· Leo Tolstoy
· Mark Twain
· Walt Whitman
· Virginia Woolf

Want to write a children's picture book? Read this.

2009-04-26T11:06:00.007-05:00

Excerpts from Writing Picture Books

by Ann Whitford Paul

(source: April 14, 2009 issue of Writer's Digest)

Too often...picture book stories appeal to one audience only. As a parent, many books my children loved, I couldn’t abide. I’m sorry to say I often stooped to immature behavior, hiding an offensive book under a bed or tucking it behind other books on the shelf. Sometimes it mysteriously disappeared forever.

Then there were the books that appealed to me but not to my children. Because I had control (which comes from being the grown-up reader), they had to accede to my wishes. I knew which books these were because my children never chose to share them. Instead I would foist them on their unwilling ears. They only tolerated this because the bargain was that afterwards I would read one of their favorites. And what child doesn’t want to sit a bit longer in an adult’s arms listening to a story, even one he doesn’t like, when there’s another, better one waiting to be heard?

Obviously the ideal picture book must appeal to both adults and children. The best way to ensure this is to make sure your story depth resonates with both the reader and the listener.
What makes a story have such depth?

Enduring picture books must be about something bigger than a mere incident. The story problem must explore some large theme or issue. It must have a kernel of truth about life and our world.

Writing about a little girl’s walk and the pebble she puts in her pocket, the dog that barks at her, and the neighbor who waves a greeting has no larger truth. It’s merely an incident, a vignette, a description. The writer must have an idea, or theme, in the back of her mind that she’s investigating. She must have something that will turn such a set of incidents into a story that stays with the reader long after the book is closed.

The process of building a story is like building a house. A carpenter cannot put up the walls until he builds a frame. The frame holds up the walls. The frame supports the roof. The frame determines the final shape of the house.

Your story frame determines everything—plot, characters, ending, word usage. To discover your story frame, you don’t need a hammer or a saw. You don’t need tools or expensive gadgets. There’s only one thing you require, and it’s free.

STORY QUESTIONIt behooves writers to think of a general question about the underlying issue they are trying to unravel in each new story.

Remember that little girl’s walk around the block? Let’s add something to it for the writer to investigate. Suppose the little girl is walking to her grandmother’s house at the end of the block and she is supposed to get there in ten minutes. She pauses not only to pick up a pebble, but also to smell a flower and to trace a snail’s trail. Each of those pauses takes on more importance because she must arrive at her grandmother’s within a certain time period. Perhaps the story question now might be: What happens when we pay attention to the everyday wonders of nature?

2009-04-25T07:19:00.002-05:00

2009-04-24T07:15:00.001-05:00

Tom’s Poem from The Uni Verse

The following is one of Tom Mach’s poems from his award-winning poetry book: The Uni Verse, published by Hill Song Press

© 2007 by Tom Mach

Nothing ever rests in this busy universe
All matter is constantly in motion.
Helium fires induce the stars to sparkle,
and comets zing like flaming arrows,
but they return after a long absence
to repeat their endless flight.
Asteroids fly through the blackness of space
and make senseless, eon-long orbits.
So too do galaxies continue on their move,
while the planets within circle about
the nearest star in carousel fashion.

Does Death not even exist in space?
Do objects move because there is nothing
to slow them from the Big Bang?
No friction, no blocks to retard their journey?
or…was there even a Big Bang?

2009-04-23T06:45:00.005-05:00

Things to Consider If You’re Writing Historical Fiction

by Tom Mach

© 2009 by Tom Mach

I enjoy both history and fiction; so naturally, my area of intense interest in writing would be historical fiction. Unfortunately, some novels that are called “historical novels” should really be called “period novels.” This is because fictional works such as Gone With the Wind, take place against a Civil War background, but there is very little factual history comingled with the story. The reader knows there’s a battle going on, but she is captivated by the intriguing conflict Scarlett O’Hara has between her desire for Ashley Wilkes and her on-again, off-again feels for Rhett Butler. A book such as The March by E. L. Doctorow is a true historical novel because it intermingles fictional and historical characters and accurately follows General Sherman and his commanders as they march to Atlanta near the close of the Civil War. My two novels, Sissy! and All Parts Together, are also “historical” in nature as they accurately describe the historical events of the times. In All Parts Together, for instance, the reader gets into the mind of John Wilkes Booth as he methodically plans the assassination of President Lincoln.

I’ve outlined below what I think are eleven important things a writer can do to create a true historical novel:

1) Visit the locale where the action takes place. (In my case, I visited Civil War battleground sites and formulated in my mind the terrain, the positions of hills and creeks, the location of camp headquarters, where the tents were located, etc. so I can have a strong image in my mind of the scene before I start writing the book.)

2) Go to museums and study the exhibits carefully.

3) Explore old cemeteries to see where you might have your characters buried.

4) Dig into old newspapers. Many libraries have these on microfiche and you can scroll to specific dates to see what was being written about certain events. Even the ads are helpful in giving you a fix on what kinds of merchandise were sold back then and for how much.

5) Talk to historians, teachers, other writers. Historical societies and similar organizations can be quite helpful in giving you a sense of reality of what may have really happened in a given scene.

6) Check out deeds, contracts, letters, wills, or other legal documents that might be related to your story.

7) Read other novels written at the time your story is set. Also read contemporary novels which cover the same time period to get a sense of how these writers wrote about that era.

8) Check out footnotes in any nonfiction books or articles relating to your story. These footnotes may lead you to other helpful sources

9) Invest in some reference books. Don’t rely on a single source for information and try to get to the original source of information if at all possible.

10) Use the internet. Google. Do some social networking on Facebook and Twitter. Get more contacts who might be of help to you.

11) Don’t be afraid to comingle fictional characters with historical ones. But be extremely careful in the language, actions, locale, and time period for your imaginary scenes. If you make a single inaccurate historical mistake—for instance, having a fictional character see Lincoln arrive at Ford’s Theater a half-hour before he actually would have gotten there—this would be fatal flaw that could turn off a reader who knows his history.

2009-04-22T10:00:00.008-05:00

What Is “Poetry”? Why Do You Want To Write It? And in What Form?

by Tom Mach

A poem is defined as “a composition in verse, characterized by the imaginative treatment of experience and a condensed use of language that is more vivid and intense than ordinary prose.” A “verse,” on the other hand, is a “metrical composition.” That doesn’t help too much if you just arrived from planet Zorro and wanted to write a poem. Poets may disagree with me, but as far as I’m concerned, poetry is a written expression of one's personal experiences without the constraints of logical, sequenced thought as you might have in an article, essay, or story. The fact that it is so personal makes it difficult for me to judge whether a poem is “great” or “mediocre.” There is much about modern poetry I simply don't understand Even those poems published in literary magazines which have won prizes make me mutter,“What in the world is this s---!” (four-letter obscenity) It’s the same expression I have with much of modern art. Some people will stare in admiration at a canvas that looks as if someone had thrown paint against it and ordered his dog walk across it with painted sponges on its paws. I find a great deal of modern poetry is like modern art. Apparently, it holds a lot of meaning for its creator. A few will admire this “work of art” because it is supposed to be famous so they believe if they stare at it long enough, they’ll "get it." Others might really “get it” and are to be admired for being in tune with the creator’s mind. But then there are still others, like me, who don’t “get it,” and are afraid to say so because they will be thought of as being uncouth and uncivilized.

I think people write poetry for the same reason other people climb mountains: because it’s there. They realize readers won’t be crashing their door demanding to buy their poetry. Readers catching a plane aren’t going to be visiting airport book racks because they’d like nothing better than to entertain themselves with a book of obscure poetry. No, poets write poetry because there is something going off in their minds and they need to express it in words, regardless what others think of it. I am always uneasy when I am in a writers critique group where there is a mixture of prose and poetry writers. Invariably, someone will pass along her poem for us to critique, and invariably, I’m the only one in the group who dares to question what this poem means. The poet gets upset with my question and the others in the group glare at me for asking such a stupid question. I truly believe poets don't want to be honestly critiqued; I think they want to be admired for awaking their muse in some unique way.

Anyway, I did a little research on poetry forms, and http://www.peomofquotes.com/ came up with a total of 51. Perhaps there are more forms than these. When I was younger, I thought there were only two forms—rhyming and non-rhyming—and I had always assumed that when people talked about poems they were usually referring to the former type. But ever since Whitman came out with his Leaves of Grass, rhyming poetry fell into disfavor. Pick up any book of poetry and I guarantee that the non-rhyming type will vastly outshine the other.

Well, here are the 51 forms of poetry. In the future, I intend to get into some of these with examples of my own:

ABC Acrostic Ballad Ballade
Blank verse Bio Burlesque Canzone
Carpe diem Cinquain Classicism Couplet
Dramatic monologue Elegy Epic Epigram
Epitaph Epithalamium Free verse Ghazal
Haiku Horatian ode Iambic pentameter Idyll
Irregular ode Italian sonnet Lay Limerick
List Lyric Memoriam stanza Name
Narrative Ode Pastoral Petrarchan
Pindaric ode Quatrain Rhyme Rhyme royal
Romanticism Rondeau Senryu Sestina
Shakespearean Shape Sonnet Tanka
Terza Rima Verse Villanelle

Now it’s time for me to turn off my poetry mind and return to my prose mind. (I wonder if that side of my brain has room for both.)

---Tom Mach

2009-04-21T10:16:00.003-05:00

Why Should Authors Twitter?

by Tom Mach

©2009 by Tom Mach

I just read an article by Sara Weinman entitled “Are Authors Who Twitter Any Fitter?” it appeared in the May/June issue of Poets & Writers magazine. She made several points that I had also pondered concerning this one question—what good is sending “tweets”, or user updates to strangers if you’re restricted to 140 characters?

Well, I’m an author, and the reason I twitter is twofold: (1) I want to let people know about new and interesting information on my blog (http://tommach-author.blogspot.com/) and (2) I want to read about some of the things people are doing—not just about the writing profession but about non-writing events. For instance, one tweeter told me she was going to the pool but that some people called it an ocean. That statement made me think of a new way of describing the ocean if the beach is part of your real estate and you imagine the ocean is yours as well. Another tweeter told me she couldn’t concentrate on writing because her kids were taking off their clothes. Obviously, you do get some weird tweets from time to time.

Sara goes beyond my two uses of Twitter in her article. She tells us that publishing folks such as authors, book publishers, and agents are using it as a business tool. I was already aware that firms such as Random House and Doubleday are on Twitter. I’m also aware that movie producers such as MGM and Warner Bros are on it as well So too are some literary agents and a long list of novelists and poets. But I’ve wondered how I, as an author, could possibility entice a book publisher about my book or make Oprah want to invite me to her show when I’m a complete unknown and have tell these people about myself in 140 characters? Well, the answer is, you can’t. But, as Ms. Weinman, points out, you have to set up a game plan so that these people have an incentive to follow you on Twitter and perhaps get to know you better.

I did not realize, until Sara pointed it out, that a few authors are tweeting links to influential companies and people, following them with information about their book signing tours, their synopses, and other gems. I know of one author (whose name I won’t mention) who is using Facebook to do similar things. She has actually two Facebooks—one under her name and the other list as “Fans of xxxx” with the xxx being her name. If you are fan, she sends you links about her latest books, tours, etc.

I was particularly impressed with Ms. Weinman’s observations of a novelist named John Wray. Apparently, he is twittering pieces of his novel “one 140-character installment at a time” While I admit that it’s good practice to cut down on unnecessary words, I don’t think it’s possible to reduce every sentence in your novel to 140 characters or less. Mr. Wray, if you can do this, more power to you.

One of my observations about Twitter, which is the same as Sara’s, is that twittering can be a huge waste of time if you’re reading every twitter message. Much of it is irrelevant (“I got up this morning.”…”This coffee tastes terrible.”…”I guess it’s time for me to start writing my novel”…) After I read several of these meaningless twitters, I feel guilty that I’ve wasted my time. But there are always gems among twitters. I’ve seen some very interesting URLs they post that I would have missed had I not seen it on Twitter.

Plus there are those writers, like myself, who enjoy writing blogs that his followers might enjoy as well. While it would be great for me to interest Oprah on appearing on her show, I have to quit believing in Fantasy Land and continue believing in myself. Because in the end, we really are “following” ourselves, aren’t we?

---Tom Mach

The Power of Words

2009-04-20T06:21:00.003-05:00

The Power of Words

by Tom Mach

© 2009 by Tom Mach

Winds of apathy will not shake me
though I am invisible to this crowd
or seen darkly, blurred and misty.

I shall leave you all, head bowed
so you can play your strident noise
while I open my book of words
to recount the sum of all my joys.

Words take wing like songbirds,
finding minds to touch and arouse,
where characters give love and reveal
imagined souls for me to browse.
Matters not if they be false or real.

Pages press scenes within my heart
and arrange my thoughts, part by part.

On Being a Shameless (& Smart) Self-Promoter

2009-04-19T11:12:00.010-05:00

I frequently hear the following being said at writers' club meetings: "Hey, I know that I'm a shameless self-promoter." Other writers in the group laugh and then listen as a writer begins to brag about her latest book, her successful book signing, a talk she's scheduled to give, a prize she had just won. As she's whipping herself senseless with praise, the writers in the group are smiling politely but they are also strumming their fingers while they're thinking, "Damn, I can't wait until I accomplish something so I can brag about it to the rest of us like she's doing right now!"

There's nothing wrong with any of that. But when we become shameless self-promoters outside of our little circle of writing friends, we get into trouble. I learned this the hard way when I first started bragging about my first novel Sissy! I'd tell people that my book won the J Donald Coffin Memorial Book Award (who cares?) or that this is my first novel (yawn) or that I will personally autograph the book (big deal). The trick is to appeal to them directly with a challenging question (Example: What would you do if a young angel appeared at your bedside tonight? or Ever wonder how many women fought in hand-to-hand combat in the Civil War?) Questions like that tend to stop them and force them to struggle for an answer. And while they're struggling, you give them a one-sentence grabber they can't resist. (Example: People tell me that page 142 of my novel Sissy! made them cry.)

Some writers say they don't like to brag about themselves. But it's not themselves they're bragging about--it's their book. And it's not bragging if they're trying to appeal to the emotions and curiosity of a potential readers. Besides, if you don't talk about your own book, who will?

Yes, we writers are shameless self-promoters and proud of it--especially when you think of folks like John Grisham, Danielle Steele, Nora Roberts, or Ken Follett. We follow a long line of self-promoters!

--Tom Mach

Farewell to James Houston--author and friend

2009-04-18T10:23:00.000-05:00

James Houston, novelist and essayist, died on April 16, 2009 at his home in Santa Cruz. He was 75 when he passed away.

I first met Jim in February, 1980, when he spoke to the Peninsula Branch of the California Writer's Club, of which I was a member. He and his wife, Jeanne Wakatsuki Houson, wrote a book called Farewell to Manzanar, and it was a true story of Jeanne's experience as a seven-year-old when her family was forced to live in an internment camp, as did ten thousand other Japanese Americans. Jim was friendly and approachable to all of us and in the copy of his book that I bought, he inscribed: "For Tom Mach--All the best to a fellow writer" when he signed it.

This book was later made into a movie and helped launch his writing career to new heights Since then he went on to write eight more novels, but I was out of touch with him for several years as my career took me to other places. But I caught up with him again in September of 2006, when he talked at the Steinbeck Center to the California Writers Club about his newest novel at the time entitled Snow Mountain Passage about the ill-fated Donner Party. He told me he remembered me after all those years and this time he inscribed in my copy of his book: "How Great To Meet Again!"

I've always enjoyed meeting authors who, no matter how famous they are, remain approachable and are always eager to help other writers who haven't reached that level.

Goodbye, Mr. Houston. I and the literary world will miss you!

---Tom Mach

Blogs, Books and the Irony of Short

2009-04-17T07:45:00.000-05:00

(this was written by Seth Godin in his blog of April 17, 2009)

Blogs have eliminated the reason for most business books to exist. If you can say it in three blog posts and reach more people, then waiting a year and putting in all that effort seems sort of pointless. The chances that your effort will be rewarded with income in proportion to the time you put in are pretty low.

This has raised the bar for what it takes to write a decent business book. I really enjoyed The Peter Principle years ago, but I think we can all agree that today it would be better as a blog.

The best non-fiction books today either deliver a complex message that takes more space and attention than a short series of blog posts can deliver, or they are convenient packages to spread an idea from person to person in a more powerful way than an emailed link can. Books can take their time and build an argument, while blog posts are constantly fighting the reader's ability and desire to click away.

The irony? The market demands that you summarize your book in a blog post. We're hesitant to buy a book (which is a far better value than just about any form of media) if we don't think we're going to like it. I guess that's built in from childhood, cause you get in trouble if you don't finish a book, and who wants to finish a book they don't like?

At least once a week, someone emails me a lousy review someone did of a summary of one of my books. Not the book, but what they thought the book was about based on a blog post summary of the book.

Critics and shoppers are doing the same thing about your spa, mp3 player and insurance company. We now review the blog post version of it, not the actual experience. "I heard the service at this restaurant was lousy." How's that for condensing four years of hard work and training into a sentence?

And then we complain when the long version doesn't pack enough punch, seems too short and isn't transcendent enough for those that persevere.

This is irony (we say we want long and deep and rich but we also insist that it be condensed to a sentence) so it's not clear what you should do about it as a marketer, other than to accept that it's going on.

(mis)Quote of the Day

2009-04-16T12:51:00.000-05:00

"How dreary to be somebody!

How public, like a frog

To tell your name the livelong day

To an admiring BLOG!"

--Emily Dickinson ?

The Analogy of Novel Writing to House Building

2009-04-15T17:22:00.000-05:00

I've never built a house, but I know the basics needed for doing so. Obviously, one starts with a foundation. This involves ground preparation, being sure you have adequate drainage, etc. Frames must be carefully constructed, wallboard added, then walls, windows, ceilings, and roof--all the while doing the other things that make a building a house, such as putting in the wiring and plumbing and eaves and the exterior and the roof. The point is there is a lot of planning in building a house.

Same thing is true with writing a novel. Just as an architect has a vision prior to building a house, so too does a writing in crafting a novel. The builder takes plans from an architect and makes plans for his building This is also true with a novelist, who moves his "vision" into actuality by planning his story, all the while working from his vision--and a vision not just from his plot but also (and especially) from his characters. The basic story line is his foundation, the time and place is his floor, the walls his scenes, the windows the point of view (POV) of each of his characters (if he's writing omnisciently) or one huge window (if he's writing from a single person's POV). The dialgoue is the entire atmosphere and feel of the house (are you comfortable with it? does it change from room to room?) and the entire story culminates in a climax (or roof of the house), so that the ending satisfies the authors (ie., the look of the house pleases the builder) and hopefully, the entire book will satisfy a reader (ie, the house will find a buyer who loves it).

When I'm doing a book signing, someone eventually comes up to me and tells me she has a great idea for a novel and is enthusiastic about it...but has never written it. That's sad because ideas that stay in your head don't make a novelist, just as an idea for a house doesn't make an architect. Write a novel because you absolutely MUST write it. It's the same thing with mountain climbers They climb the mountain because the MUST climb it

I always tell my friends that "writing a novel is the ultimate trip." Vacations are great, but writing novels that spill out the inner workings of your soul are even greater.

Tom Mach
tom.mach@yahoo.com

2009-04-11T13:44:00.000-05:00

The following article appeared in the April 9, 2009 issue of Writing Forward

How Poetry Writing Improves All Other Writing
by Melissa Donovan

In the world of writing, one form stands out as different from all the rest: poetry.

Poetry writing is not bound by the chains of sentence and paragraph structures, context, or even grammar.

In the magical world of poetry, you can throw all the rules out the window and create a piece of art, something that is entirely unique.

That doesn’t mean writing poetry is creatively easy. It can be much more difficult to make a poem than it is to write an essay or piece of fiction. There’s so much creative space, and without any limitations whatsoever, it can be overwhelming.

Yet poetry writing brings a great bounty of writerly skills and tools, and many of these will spill over into other writing forms, sprinkling them with just a little of the magic that is poetry. And while poetry might not be your favorite form of writing, reading poetry, working through some basic poetry writing exercises, and engaging in poetry writing, even just a little bit, will improve your overall writing skills.

What sets poetry apart from other types of writing? What is it about poetry, beyond the fact that it has less constraints, that actually makes someone a better writer in all areas, rather than just a better poet?

Mindful Imagery

While other creative writing forms may use vivid imagery to create pictures in the reader’s mind, no other form comes close to what can be achieved with imagery in poetry writing.
Most writing forms attempt to explain something - a scene, a situation, an idea, a set of instructions, an experience. Poetry doesn’t bother to explain. It shows. It paints a picture, takes a snapshot, and then pulls you into it.

In a poetry workshop, you will hear this chant over and over: show, don’t tell. When you master the art of showing readers a scene through imagery, you can easily pull it into your other writing, creating work that is alive in a reader’s mind.

Emotions and Language

Of course, language is essential to all types of writing, but in poetry, words must be plucked carefully and with great consideration. Poetry writing will launch you into the lexicon, headfirst and spinning.

In fiction, readers connect emotionally with characters. We get to know them, understand them, and come to relate to them or even think of them as our own personal friends (or enemies).

In poetry, there are rarely characters, so instead of using the emotional connection forged between people, a writer must harness emotional language and grip the reader’s heart through scenes, ideas, and images that make readers feel. This is achieved by learning how to select emotionally charged language.

Physical Rhythm

A poet must be constantly aware of meter and rhythm. Poems and song lyrics are often compared, confused, and intermingled, and with good reason. Both poetry and music must pay attention to cadence and melody.

Think about how you feel when you hear a particular piece of music. You tap your feet, shake your hips, bang your head. Our bodies respond physically to music.

Through poetry writing comes a natural ability to marry musicality with language. When this musicality, this rhythm, is infused in other forms of writing, readers feel it in their bones and muscles. They will have a physical reaction.

Poetry Writing

Writing is about connecting with readers. And poetry writing helps you develop skills for connecting with readers mentally (imagery), emotionally (language), and physically (rhythm).
Suddenly, your fiction comes alive with scenes that make people see. Your essays are woven with words that make people feel. And your blog posts make people want to jump out of their seats and start dancing.

It’s this use of imagery, language, and rhythm that keep readers turning pages, anxious to find out what they’ll experience next.

2009-04-10T21:17:00.000-05:00

Sounds of Lawrence

Tom Mach

(This poem was winner in the
Ad Astra #2 Poetry Contest)

Voices are ghosts too,
still here to haunt us.
Quantrill’s order to
burn the Eldridge
are embedded in stone
and a boy’s scream
from a flying bullet
may be hidden in a
Watkins Museum rifle.
Frazier Hall holds the words
Of Susan Anthony’s speech
While the applause for
Jane Addams and her talk
at the Bowersock Theater
are now buried somewhere
in the mortar of Liberty Hall.
The Pinckney School playground
holds the frustrated tears of a youngster
named Langston Hughes
and somewhere in the soil
of a Lawrence cemetery
are more voices, past and future…
some who have spoken
and some who have yet to speak.

Humor

2009-04-08T13:26:00.000-05:00

I don't know the original source of this humor, so my apologies to the person who put these together...

Q. What kind of man was Boaz before he married Ruth?
A. Ruthless.

Q. What do they call pastors in Germany ?
A. German Shepherds.

Q. Who was the greatest financier in the Bible?
A. Noah He was floating his stock while everyone else was in liquidation.

Q. Who was the greatest female financier in the Bible?
A. Pharaoh's daughter. She went down to the bank of the Nile and drew out a Little prophet.

Q. What kind of motor vehicles are in the Bible?
A. Jehovah drove Adam and Eve out of the Garden in a Fury. David's Triumph was heard throughout the land. Also, probably a Honda, because the apostles were all in one Accord.

Q.. Who was the greatest comedian in the Bible?
A. Samson. He brought the house down.

Q. What excuse did Adam give to his children as to why he no longer lived in in Eden ?
A. Your mother ate us out of house and home.

Q. Which servant of God was the most flagrant lawbreaker in the Bible?
A.. Moses. He broke all 10 commandments at once.

Q. Which area of Palestine was especially wealthy? A. The area around Jordan . The banks were always overflowing.

Q. Who is the greatest babysitter mentioned in the Bible?
A. David He rocked Goliath to a very deep sleep.

Q. Which Bible character had no parents?
A. Joshua, son of Nun.

Q. Why didn't they play cards on the Ark ?
A. Because Noah was standing on the deck. ( Groan.)

PS... Did you know it's a sin for a woman to make coffee?
Yup, it's in the Bible. It says . . 'He-brews'

KEEP SMILING!!!! GOD LOVES YOU BUNCHES AND BUNCHES!!!!
Friends are God's way of taking care of us.

Poems I've written

2009-04-07T21:37:00.000-05:00

Hi--

I thought I'd start things off by showing you a poem I've just created about Kansas towns. If you have any comments to make about it, I would greatly appreciate hearing from you. Here it is:

Kansas Towns As Described by Google Earth

by Tom Mach

The Chevy Cobalt glides
through the innards of Lawrence,
like a stalker as it espies quiet houses
with its 360-degree camera
rotating on the car roof as it moves
along Rhode Island, going past
overhangs of hickories and spruce,
eating visual data for its digital map.
It doesn’t see the Quantrill raiders
hoofing their way toward their prize,
or tired farmers who milked their cows
south of the town’s South Park.
No, the Cobalt travels on, guided
by its quest to see even beyond Lawrence,
to move to Tecumseh on the turnpike,
ignoring the archaic images of dusty roads
ridden by frustrated Free Staters
who left a hostile Lecompton.
The Cobalt hustles past noisy semis
and SUVs pushing past the 70 limit.
Not blazing an Oregon Trail westward,
the Cobalt is trailblazing its way on
concrete pressed by billions of prior wheels,
exploring while ignoring the Topeka capital,
not even stopping to see a John Brown likeness;
not even pausing in Wichita to imagine
its booming aircraft industry;
not even stopping in Dodge City and
smelling the labor of buffalo hunters.
No.
Its mission is to take photos of streets and
avenues and lanes and parks and buildings
so that a young teenager can Google Earth
and tell his mother he’s seen Kansas towns
when he really hasn’t.