Sponsored by KYOWA Romance Writers.

Saturday, February 12, 12-2 PM
Greenup Public Library
614 Main Street
Greenup, KY 41144-1036

Sunday, February 13, 1-3 PM
Boyd County Library
1740 Central Avenue
Ashland, KY 41101-7653

As character lovers, we writers must become students of human nature.  One way I stumbled upon to do this was personality tests. Originally I took them to better understand myself,  the same reason most people take them, by the way.  Then an idea struck me.  What if my characters started taking these personality tests?  I could answer the questions not as myself but as my character.  When I read the pages of analysis that these online tests produce I often see insights into my character that I originally did not know.  This extra knowledge won’t help you write that climatic scene.  It will though help you put in those little details that lend authenticity to your characters.

So anyway.  I’m going to tell you today about two tests that I think are interesting.  Don’t limit yourself to these two tests.  I intend, and I hope you do as well, to seek out every variety of test I can find.  These two, though, are pretty rich examples.  They will provide you with lots of fodder for characters.

The Firo-B test has four types.  The Choleric, the Melancholy, the Sanguine, and the Phlegmatic.  One thing for sure though is that people will not be 100% a particular type.  There are interesting combinations.  If you do a search online you’ll see tons of stuff relating to the Firo-B.

The Meyers Briggs is another popular and a bit older test.  It produces a 4 letter code that represents your personality.  You can get a lot of info here http://www.personalitypathways.com about this test.

There are more tests than just these.  Try them all.  Why not?

Here is a link to a page with lots of links to tests.  Many of the tests are free.  Some, of course, are not.  I make no money from any of them.
http://www.librarysupportstaff.com/4personaltest.html

So what do you do now?  You take the tests for your characters.  You can also read the results without taking the tests as a means of jump-starting your imagination.  Maybe one of the types will give you ideas for a particularly interesting character.   Good luck and good writing!

John Wright blogs at: The Wright Review of Books (http://wrightreviewofbooks.blogspot.com/)

Date: Saturday, January 22, 2011

Time: 12:30 p.m.

Location: Boyd County Library
1740 Central Avenue, Ashland
(in Central Park)

~~Mary Shortridge

The deadline to enter the 2010 New Southerner Literary Contest is Oct. 1. Please send your best, previously unpublished poetry, fiction and nonfiction. The contest theme is open. We are especially interested in work that relates to our mission, which is promoting self-sufficiency, environmental stewardship and local economies.

• Prizes: $200 for winners of Fiction, Nonfiction and the James Baker Memorial Prize in Poetry; publication in the literary edition; invitation to read at a special event;
• Submit fiction and nonfiction up to 5,000 words;
• Submit poems up to 100 lines;
• Contest fee: $10 per entry;
• Multiple entries are accepted;
• Simultaneously submitted entries are accepted as long as you notify us promptly if your work is accepted elsewhere; entry fee is not refundable;
• Postmark deadline: October 1;
• Winners will be notified by November 20;
• Finalists and winning entries will be announced in The New Southerner Literary Edition, available online and in print at www.newsoutherner.com in December.
• Final judges are Sena Jeter Naslund (fiction), Jason Howard (nonfiction) and Jeff Worley (James Baker Hall Memorial Prize in Poetry);
• Easy online submission process.

To enter, or for more information, go to http://www.newsoutherner.com/contest.

Bobbi Buchanan
NewSoutherner.com
375 Wood Valley Lane
Louisville, KY 40299
502-239-3438

Popular Fiction Awards

Entry Deadline: November 1, 2010:

Short Story in five categories — Romance, Mystery/Crime Fiction, Science Fiction/Fantasy, Thriller/Suspense, Horror.

The Grand Prize-Winner will receive a trip to the Writer’s Digest Conference in New York City, $2,500 cash, $100 worth of Writer’s Digest Books and the 2011 Novel & Short Story Writer’s Market. Find more information here.

~~~

11th Annual Short Short Story Competition

Entry Deadline: December 1, 2010.

Bold, Brilliant, and Brief — short stories in 1500 words or less.

First Place: $3,000 and a trip to the Writer’s Digest Conference in New York City
Second Place: $1,500
Third Place: $500
Fourth Through Tenth Place: $100
Eleventh Through Twenty-Fifth Place: $50 gift certificate for Writer’s Digest Books

* The names and story titles of the First-through Tenth-Place winners will be printed in the May/June 2011 Writer’s Digest, and winners will receive the 2011 Novel & Short Story Writer’s Market and Agents, Editors, and You: The Insider’s Guide to Getting Your Book Published. Plus, all First through 25th place winners will receive a free copy of the 11th Annual Writer’s Digest Short Short Story Competition Collection.

~~~

6th Annual Poetry Awards Competition

Entry Deadline: December 15, 2010

All styles of poetry accepted.

First Place: $500 and a trip to the Writer’s Digest Conference in New York City
Second Place: $250
Third Place: $100
Fourth Through Tenth Place: $25
Eleventh Through Twenty-Fifth Place: $50 gift certificate for Writer’s Digest Books.

* The names and poem titles of the First through Tenth-Place winners will be printed in the August 2011 Writer’s Digest, and afterwards their names will appear on www.writersdigest.com. All winners will receive the 2011 Poet’s Market.

Until I get to that sagging middle part. Some scenes are necessary for the story progression but aren’t as much fun as the action or love scenes. I don’t want to bore my readers, so I struggle to make the flow smooth.

I was relieved to read several posts by author Terry Odell that address this subject. In Don’t Ask Me for Blueprints, Terry says, “Plot points come and go.” In another post, Terry quotes Eileen Goudge from The Writer 2007: “Keep in mind that an outline isn’t a blueprint; it’s merely a rough guide. You can change directions at any point. In fact, you most likely will. As you get to know your characters, they’ll develop minds of their own. Plots, too, are organic and will often shift course as they take shape. If you’re not sure about something, sleep on it. If it still makes sense in the morning, it’s probably the way to go.”

Stephen King, in On Writing, addresses this scary subject:

The Basics: Forget plot but remember the importance of “situation”…

I won’t try to convince you that I’ve never plotted any more than I’d try to convince you that I’ve never told a lie, but I do both as infrequently as possible. I distrust plot for two reasons: first, because our lives are largely plotless, even when you add in all our reasonable precautions and careful planning; and second, because I believe plotting and the spontaneity of real creation aren’t compatible.

A strong enough situation renders the whole question of plot moot. The most interesting situations can usually be expressed as a What-if question:

What if vampires invaded a small New England village? (Salem’s Lot).

What if a young mother and her son became trapped in their stalled car by a rabid dog? (Cujo).

These were situations which occurred to me – while showering, while driving, while taking my daily walk – and which I eventually turned into books. In no case were they plotted, not even to the extent of a single note jotted on a single piece of scrap paper.

And the queen of romance writing, Nora Roberts, said in a February 2008 interview with Writers Digest magazine: “I don’t plot. I don’t sit down and plot a book. It sort of unreels as I write.”

Well. With those endorsements of my seat-of-my-pants style and as long as I remember that while success in writing does depend on attention to detail, it doesn’t depend upon it in outline form, perhaps I can feel comfortable knocking out another chapter today…

When: Thursday, September 16 · 6:00pm – 8:00pm

Where: 13th Street Tim Horton’s, Ashland KY

What: Cat will meet readers and offer her new novel, Kentucky Blues, for sale.

You can RSVP this event if you like, or contact Cat on Facebook here.

]]> http://kyowawriters.com/2010/09/14/book-or-bust/feed/ 0 http://kyowawriters.com/2010/09/13/jennifer-johnson-book-release/ http://kyowawriters.com/2010/09/13/jennifer-johnson-book-release/#comments Mon, 13 Sep 2010 14:16:10 +0000 PatriciaMarieWarren http://kyowawriters.com/?p=146 Rescue Me, the new novel by Jennifer Johnson, was released by Turquoise Morning Press on September 13, 2010.

Information on purchasing the book is available on the publisher’s website.