RANT on Revenge

I am stepping up on my soapbox here.  So, if you don't like all the hollering and shouting, you may want to tiptoe on past.

I received an e-mail from a writer acquaintance recently, sharing that an evil person has a plot against him.  I will not share the plot because I do not want any evil-minded people out there acquiring a new method to use for tormenting and taunting writers--or anyone else.  Suffice it to say, the evil person launched a personal campaign to malign my writer acquaintance's wonderful published works.

The story brought to mind a similar event, one that I will share.  On my Author Exchange Blog, I interview published authors, editors, agents, and all manner of folk in the publishing industry.  The interviewees usually enjoy the free promotional opportunity and post links to the interview on their websites, blogs, etc.  Did you notice I used the word usually in the previous sentence?  It was intentional.

Last year, I published an author's interview and, upon checking the comments a couple of hours after it appeared, was horrified to view a comment.  Actually, the comment was a novella--a diatribe against the author citing an interminable list of wrongs, ranging from the author's mistreatment of family from the time she was a child to more current misdeeds.  Mind you, nothing in the comment/novella pertained to the author's writing or published works.  It was clearly a vicious sneak attack on the author.  For all I know, the contents of the novella could have been true.  My blog, however, was not the appropriate forum for the commenter to air his/her "issues."  (Did I mention the commenter left his/her comments using the name ANONYMOUS?  How weaselly is that?)

This particular incident introduced me to the security measure known as "moderating comments" on a blog.  If a blog host does not moderate comments (choose to have the comments e-mailed to the blog host BEFORE allowing them to appear live on the blog), they appear immediately online--in all their glory.  If a blog host does not moderate comments, the only way to get rid of them is to delete the entire blog entry (which includes the offending comments).

I deleted the interview, along with its offensive novella, and reposted it.  Yes, I began immediately moderating comments--on that and all the other blogs I host.

Which brings me to this:  If a person is so angry with, and wronged by, another person that he feels revenge must be exacted, why does he have to be so darned sneaky?  Why can't he simply walk up to the person who committed the wrong and punch him in the nose if conversation won't resolve the matter?

Okay, you've got a point.  Jail is not a prospect most people look forward to and might just be a deterrent to the nose-punching alternative.  But still.  I can think of one (or seven) people who've really and truly pissed me off over the years.  A couple of them were downright sneaky and nasty; one or two were simply users.  It would never cross my mind to sabotage them online.  Mostly because when I wear my insurance hat, I am very familiar with offenses such as libel, slander, invasion of privacy, etc.  And as much as I might want to see those 1-7 people get theirs, I sure don't want any negative consequences to reflect on me when it happens.

I've just made it clear that I don't understand revenge.  Which is why I've never used it as a plot device in a novel.  Can anyone explain to me--in simple, basic language--what motivates a person to risk all sorts of painful consequences for revenge?

WHODUNIT?

I am in the process of overhauling my websites and decided that I want to begin offering a monthly contest.

WHODUNIT? is the result.

It's not just a contest that'll give away free stuff (although it'll certainly do that) it allows entrants to complete the ending to a mysterious scenario.  Anyone can enter, from published writers, to readers, to Facebook friends, to my 11 year-old granddaugher (I hope).

Check out my websites, let me know what you think of the recent changes, feel free to recommend updates, and enter the contest.  Entries will be accepted through the 25th of each month and winners will be announced on the website on the last day of each month.

http://www.lindamfaulkner.com/

Organizing...or Plotting?

I had one of those lightbulb moments yesterday.  You know, like in the cartoons. 

I've always dreaded preparing a synopsis or chapter-by-chapter outline BEFORE I write a novel.  I do it because, as Yogi Berra said, "If you don't know where you are going, you might wind up someplace else."  I also tend to have more details for the first couple of chapters and just before the end than anywhere else--which certainly makes suspense in my life...if not in the novel!

On the other hand, when I write non-ficiton, I'm a detail freak when it comes to organizing my Table of Contents, aka the outline of the piece.  I have no problem listing the topics I want to include and organizing them into chapters.  From there, it's a breeze to come up with two to four sub-topics in each chapter.

HEL-L-L-O!  That's plotting!  The topics in non-fiction equal the sub-plots, conflicts, and character growth/development in fiction.  (Not to mention the pivot point after the first third, the plot-points, the mid-point, and the climax/black moment.) A chapter of non-fiction equals a chapter of fiction.  The sub-topics in non-fiction equal scenes in fiction.

Now that I figured out all I need to do with my [fiction] plotting is use the same technique and brain activity I use when "organizing" my non-fiction works, it's a breeze.

How do you...organize and plot?  Feel free to share tips and secrets.  I'm all for making my life easier.

My Latest Interview

Thanks, Marshall Zeringue, for interviewing me on COFFEE WITH A CANINE.

Here's a link to the interview:  http://coffeecanine.blogspot.com/2010/06/linda-m-faulkner-delaney-and-charlotte.html

What is...Writing Diarrhea?

Okay.  Maybe the title of this blogpost isn't the most appealing you've ever heard.  But it's what came to mind and I really need to discuss this.

Have you ever been in a place where all you can do is think about what you want to write, plan more things to write, and actually spend the majority of your waking hours pounding away at the keyboard and/or handwriting notes when your computer's out of reach?  (Like when you're driving or in the shower.)   That's where I am right now.  I'm working on writing projects for two different clients, plugging away at my stalker book, and outling three, yes 3, other books.

This is what I call Writing Diarrhea.  I am not writing poop nor am I writing about poop.  The words are simply flowing out of me like, well...diarrhea.  Without the pain and discomfort, of course.  (I don't need to get really tacky and discuss aromas here, now, do I?  Didn't think so.)

What I really, really, wish is that a money tree would sprout in my back yard with all the wonderful ponderosa pines and make the necessity for working vanish from my life.  Poof!  Independently Wealthy.  Wouldn't that be nice?

I am going with this flow and enjoying it.  Unfortunately, not much other than absolute necessities are getting accomplished at home.  Good thing my husband is into grilling this time of year.  And that we have a covered porch so he can do it in the goddamn rain, which is another thing that's been flowing like diarrhea around here.

Share your stories about Writing Diarrhea.  (Or even how you're envious of it.)

P.S.  The picture has nothing to do with the topic.  It's just me and my oldest daughter...and Eska.