"Show don't tell?" What does that mean? Part I

Every starting author has probably heard the same statement from an editor, teacher, or the rare publisher that actually renders opinions on your pieces: "There's too much telling." Ah, what a frustrating phrase for the young writer to hear. Unfortunately, all to often the young, aspiring writer is left to draw his or her own conclusions. Is this some statement out of the writer's necronomicon? Is there some password you should reply with?

In fact, this falls into that category of phrases that are easier to understand than explain. I often wish that, as a teenager, someone would have sat the aspiring writer down and explained this. Instead, the few readers who actually rendered useful input confused the implied author with the actual author. It wasn't until I entered grad school and my thirties that I actually understood what was wrong. Here, for your benefit, I will explain several ways beginning authors make these mistakes and correct them in the future.

Three Things German Taught Me About English

I had a teacher in school that said the main reason to study foreign language was to understand your own language better. It seems counter intuitive, but this does seem to be the best reason to study a language. In high school, we are unlikely to actually pick up a language. I took two terms of French, but unless you want me to name foods or count to a million I wouldn't be much help in Paris.

Even in college, fluency is often beyond our reach. Is there value in learning about a language without actually learning it? Absolutely. I have found that, after reading a little Chaucer, I understand English better with a little knowledge of German. German is a sister language to English. Modern English grew out of a collision between (primarily) Danish and French. (Danish being similar to German at the time. Less so now.)

[New post] Next Week

orenhammerquist posted: "Next week should be a little more lighthearted. Come find out why chickens:chicken coops as morals:ethicshttp://theclosetliberal.blogspot.com/2015/08/next-week_3.html" Respond to this post by replying above this line New post on Oren Hammerquist - Fiction Writer and Poet Next Week by orenhammerquist Next week should be a little more lighthearted. Come find out why chickens:chicken coops as morals:ethicshttp://theclosetliberal.blogspot.com/2015/08/next-week_3.html Read more of this post orenhammerquist | August 26, 2015 at 05:00 | Tags: chicken, chickens, find, lighthearted, week | Categories: Uncategorized | URL: http://wp.me/p2NrCU-aR Comment    See all comments Unsubscribe to no longer receive posts from Oren Hammerquist - Fiction Writer and Poet. Change your email settings at Manage Subscriptions. Trouble clicking? Copy and paste this URL into your browser: https://orenhammerquist.wordpress.com/2015/08/26/next-week/ Thanks for flying with WordPress.com

The Art of The Ridiculous

When did we forget how to have fun at the movies? Though I am a huge fan of Christian Bale, and the Dark Knight trilogy was good, my favorite batman will always be Michael Keeton. Followed closely by Adam West. The newest installment of Batman is deep, dark, and meaningful. All movies have this need now. Where is the fun in movies?

I spend a good deal of time analyzing documents from fiction to poetry to official documents for school, work, or because I simply can't turn the critical eye off. I cannot read a Facebook post without mentally editing the grammar. (I mean that: there seem to be none without at least one error.)  When I turn on the TV, it is to turn off, to have some fun. So I enjoy The Simpsons, though recently they have lost their edge. I like Big Bang Theory because it is smart humor, but fun to follow.

[New post] Making Good with Bad Movies

orenhammerquist posted: "Hail the B-Movie. I love ridiculous, over-worked b-movies. B-movies are about fun like super hero movies used to be about fun. However, they don't always work. You can't just write a bad movie and expect it to be good....http://orenhammerquist.blogspot.co" Respond to this post by replying above this line New post on Oren Hammerquist - Fiction Writer and Poet Making Good with Bad Movies by orenhammerquist Hail the B-Movie. I love ridiculous, over-worked b-movies. B-movies are about fun like super hero movies used to be about fun. However, they don't always work. You can't just write a bad movie and expect it to be good....http://orenhammerquist.blogspot.com/2015/08/the-art-of-ridiculous.html Read more of this post orenhammerquist | August 24, 2015 at 04:00 | Tags: bad, good, hail, making, movies | Categories: Uncategorized | URL: http://wp.me/p2NrCU-aP Comment    See all comments Unsubscribe to no longer receive posts from Oren Hammerquist - Fiction Writer and Poet. Change your email settings at Manage Subscriptions. Trouble clicking? Copy and paste this URL into your browser: https://orenhammerquist.wordpress.com/2015/08/24/making-good-with-bad-movies/ Thanks for flying with WordPress.com

Making Good with Bad Movies

Hail the B-Movie. I love ridiculous, over-worked b-movies. B-movies are about fun like super hero movies used to be about fun. However, they don't always work. You can't just write a bad movie and expect it to be good....
http://orenhammerquist.blogspot.com/2015/08/the-art-of-ridiculous.html

[New post] Jesus Christ, Socialist?

orenhammerquist posted: "Prepare your hate emails now. This looks at one miracle from the Bible and questions whether it was actually a miracle at all. Perhaps this event means more if it is not a miracle.http://theclosetliberal.blogspot.com/2015/08/jesus-christ-socialist.html" Respond to this post by replying above this line New post on Oren Hammerquist - Fiction Writer and Poet Jesus Christ, Socialist? by orenhammerquist Prepare your hate emails now. This looks at one miracle from the Bible and questions whether it was actually a miracle at all. Perhaps this event means more if it is not a miracle.http://theclosetliberal.blogspot.com/2015/08/jesus-christ-socialist.html Read more of this post orenhammerquist | August 19, 2015 at 05:00 | Tags: christ, hate, jesus, prepare, socialist | Categories: Uncategorized | URL: http://wp.me/p2NrCU-aN Comment    See all comments Unsubscribe to no longer receive posts from Oren Hammerquist - Fiction Writer and Poet. Change your email settings at Manage Subscriptions. Trouble clicking? Copy and paste this URL into your browser: https://orenhammerquist.wordpress.com/2015/08/19/jesus-christ-socialist/ Thanks for flying with WordPress.com

[New post] How Turning your Story Into a Screenplay Helps

orenhammerquist posted: "Screenplays are a visual medium. On the other hand, isn't all fiction. Authors would do well to work the unworkable story into a screenplay. Here's why:http://orenhammerquist.blogspot.com/2015/08/filmize-your-story-then-novelize-film.html" Respond to this post by replying above this line New post on Oren Hammerquist - Fiction Writer and Poet How Turning your Story Into a Screenplay Helps by orenhammerquist Screenplays are a visual medium. On the other hand, isn't all fiction. Authors would do well to work the unworkable story into a screenplay. Here's why:http://orenhammerquist.blogspot.com/2015/08/filmize-your-story-then-novelize-film.html Read more of this post orenhammerquist | August 17, 2015 at 04:00 | Tags: helps, screenplay, screenplays, story, turning | Categories: Uncategorized | URL: http://wp.me/p2NrCU-aL Comment    See all comments Unsubscribe to no longer receive posts from Oren Hammerquist - Fiction Writer and Poet. Change your email settings at Manage Subscriptions. Trouble clicking? Copy and paste this URL into your browser: https://orenhammerquist.wordpress.com/2015/08/17/how-turning-your-story-into-a-screenplay-helps/ Thanks for flying with WordPress.com

Filmize Your Story Then Novelize the Film

What is the biggest difference between a book and a movie? One might point out the obvious fact that one watches a movie and reads a book. One might also mention the fact that popcorn when reading a book tends to be cheaper than popcorn at a movie theater. The most important difference is in the profit margins. Movies make much, much more money than books.

The Avengers: Age of Ultron has passed one billion dollars. The Amazing Spiderman as well promises to break that mark. Not all movies, even those with huge special effects budgets, make money. John Carter, based on the Princess of Mars by  Edgar Rice Burroughs was a loss for Disney. (This is unfortunate as the third book in the Barsoom series is truly the best. We must be content to read The Gods of Mars, The Warlord of Mars, and Thuvia, Maid of Mars as well as the later books.)

Unlike movies, money made by authors is measured in success of all the author's works rather than success in a single piece as with movies. Even the seven books of J. K. Rowling's hugely successful Harry Potter series made only $361 million dollars.

[New post] Next Week on Blogspot:

orenhammerquist posted: "Click here to see what is in store for next week.http://theclosetliberal.blogspot.com/2015/08/next-week.html" Respond to this post by replying above this line New post on Oren Hammerquist - Fiction Writer and Poet Next Week on Blogspot: by orenhammerquist Click here to see what is in store for next week.http://theclosetliberal.blogspot.com/2015/08/next-week.html Read more of this post orenhammerquist | August 12, 2015 at 05:00 | Tags: blogspot, click, store, week | Categories: Uncategorized | URL: http://wp.me/p2NrCU-aJ Comment    See all comments Unsubscribe to no longer receive posts from Oren Hammerquist - Fiction Writer and Poet. Change your email settings at Manage Subscriptions. Trouble clicking? Copy and paste this URL into your browser: https://orenhammerquist.wordpress.com/2015/08/12/next-week-on-blogspot/ Thanks for flying with WordPress.com

[New post] English as Math?

orenhammerquist posted: "Do you remember diagramming sentences in Grade school with horror? Perhaps one day, they will make a horror movie about sentence diagrams. (Tim Burton, I'm looking at you.) Until then, we will have to do with my post about what went wrong...and what went " Respond to this post by replying above this line New post on Oren Hammerquist - Fiction Writer and Poet English as Math? by orenhammerquist Do you remember diagramming sentences in Grade school with horror? Perhaps one day, they will make a horror movie about sentence diagrams. (Tim Burton, I'm looking at you.) Until then, we will have to do with my post about what went wrong...and what went right.http://orenhammerquist.blogspot.com/2015/08/english-as-math-what-were-they-thinking.html Read more of this post orenhammerquist | August 10, 2015 at 04:00 | Tags: diagramming, english, math, remember, sentences | Categories: Uncategorized | URL: http://wp.me/p2NrCU-aH Comment    See all comments Unsubscribe to no longer receive posts from Oren Hammerquist - Fiction Writer and Poet. Change your email settings at Manage Subscriptions. Trouble clicking? Copy and paste this URL into your browser: https://orenhammerquist.wordpress.com/2015/08/10/english-as-math/ Thanks for flying with WordPress.com

English as Math, What Were they Thinking?

Think back to your most frightening memory from middle school. Was it getting bullied on the playground? Was it dissecting a frog? Was it being asked if two trains left stations X and Y travelling at speeds A and B on the same track, what time would they collide and kill all the passengers on board? Maybe your math teacher was sadistic and added in that the trains picked up three times the number of passengers that got off at the last station, etc. Now, you are left not only deciding when these people will die, but what the death toll is.

Whatever your answer, I'll bet if you went to school in the 80's, at least one of you said sentence diagrams. If you didn't, would you like to change your answer? Looking back we might ask ourselves why we did this. What did that teach us about our language?

Literature is Dying, Literary Theory is the Cure.

You don't hear much about it any more, but people used to wonder--say five years ago--whether technology was destroying our ability to think critically. More recently, we might ask whether the novel is dead. The best-selling genres today are the relatively shallow story plots of "romance novels" and young adult fiction. Henry James would go unread today, because one does not simply read Henry James. One must re-read Henry James before he can be understood, and read a third time before we know why he wrote this. Modern readers are apt to miss the fact that The Great Gatsby is a homosexual novel because they read it too literally. (Some critics note that though Gatsby is in love with Daisy, Nick's infatuation with Gatsby borders on homoeroticism.) Biographer, writer, and teacher Emily Toth noted that students often ask if Robert  Lebrun in The Awakening is homosexual (because Edna asks her husband if Robert was "gay" when they met), and are confused whether Robert and Edna or Alcee and Edna "did it" because the answers are hidden in euphemisms. Literal reading makes Twain into a racist, and has led to The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn's banning in schools (though it certainly isn't a book for children).

Paper Beats Rock? Writers Know Why.

Why does covering a rock with paper defeat it? In the writing world, we call these papers rejection slips. There are two kinds of writers: Those that get discouraged when they get rejection slips and those that don't get discouraged when they get rejection slips. The point being, everyone gets rejected. Think of it like baseball, if you get on base 1/3 of the time you are an excellent player. If you get on base 4 out of ten times, you get in to the Hall of Fame. If you get on base half the time, you must be a robot.

Like most writers, I wish I had a .300 writing average. Worse is when you swing at that ball you shouldn't have. It looks good coming it, you take a swing, but then you look later and wonder what you were thinking. For me, these pieces of writing are usually composed between midnight and 3 am when I should really be in bed. The next morning, scissors (or at least the delete key) usually beats that particular paper.

New Construction Underway

Did you know you can make money on the internet? Okay, not worded correctly, but I did not know that people on YouTube actually could make money (and good money) running into walls and seeing what they can eat as a taco. When I learned this, I immediately wanted in. The problem is that writing does not translate well into a YouTube video. 

The ability to make money off the internet is only part of my reason to make a change. I have had a webpage for about 18 months. My few faithful followers will all likely say the same thing, "You have a webpage?" At least, judging from the Google analytics, that is what seems to be happening. It is time for me to join the rest of the world, herein after called Google. 

I am a big supporter of Google's attempt to take over the world. If they will hurry up with their self-driving cars I'll buy one. If Google Glass did more than put words in the air I'd be all in. My main interest now are the ads you will start seeing on my blog posts. All of this is part of a plan 

1. GROW the BRAND

This phrase is mathematically impossible: It means less than the sum of its parts. Often it is thrown out alongside "Change the Paradigm" or "Think Outside the Box." It is time to leverage dynamic synergy to empower myself within my swim-lane. If you want more meaningless buzzwords, Click Here to use the WSJ Buzzwords Generator.

Those phrases aren't entirely meaningless, except in the strict rhetorical sense of course. Basically, my strategy to get recognized hasn't been working. This graphic is trite but instructive. I focus on quality work in my stories, but I haven't built a reputation of excellence. More importantly, I haven't given anyone much to argue about.

2. BUILD a NETWORK

For a writer, this means devoted readers. Unfortunately, there is very little available for free to devoted readers. If my books were selling, that would actually work in my favor. My new plan involves getting people in to read my posts. Offer the readers something.

A major part of growing a network of fans will be to make access easier. I will, therefore, be changing my web hosting service. I will not name the old company, but I have become less than enamored with them. Though I initially liked having essentially a sand-table web design, I found that it cost more than it is worth. I will be moving my domain to Google and using a Blogger-based site to manage my content starting soon.

3. MAKE MONEY

This has been the sticking point. Learning what is available to me to make money has let me see beyond simply selling copies of my books. For that reason, you will see ads on my site. If they don't interest you, ignore them. Chances are, if you were led to my page, they match your recent search activity. It's that whole taking over the world thing. The four areas my blog will focus on are:

1. Literary Theory: Many people think literature classes in college are about taking all the fun out of reading. This is because you don't learn the true role of literary theory and analysis unless you move on to a master's program. You can analyze any item produced by a human using cultural/literary analysis.
2. Travel Log: I am currently living in Germany. Though I cannot discuss my professional role here, I can talk about living in Germany. This will be handled on a different blog at http://1kDaysInGermany.blogger.com.
3. Continuing Education: This project will not appear as posts, but rather additions to a page on this site. I will be analyzing the role of English language study in society as well as the growing opportunities in online education.
4. Inspiration: As I grow as an individual, I have found that I draw inspiration from many sources outside traditional religion, but fully compatible with religious belief. I would like a place to share my thoughts on where the human fits into humanity. Again, this will be handled through a separate blog which has not been launched yet.

As you see, there are many exciting changes for my followers. Keep following for release dates.

[New post] Special Offer, Limited Time!

orenhammerquist posted: "Special offers are now available on my website: www.orenhammerquist.com I have been working with Parsec Ink and KCL Publishing to bring a special offer to my fans. I will be selling signed copies of Triangulation: Steel Cities (where my story "Mining C" Respond to this post by replying above this line New post on Oren Hammerquist - Fiction Writer and Poet Special Offer, Limited Time! by orenhammerquist Special offers are now available on my website: http://www.orenhammerquist.com I have been working with Parsec Ink and KCL Publishing to bring a special offer to my fans. I will be selling signed copies of Triangulation: Steel Cities (where my story "Mining Chernobyl" appears in May), allowing preorder of my next novel Savage Animals at wholesale, and something special besides. […] Read more of this post orenhammerquist | March 14, 2015 at 09:26 | Categories: Uncategorized | URL: http://wp.me/p2NrCU-9M Comment    See all comments Unsubscribe to no longer receive posts from Oren Hammerquist - Fiction Writer and Poet. Change your email settings at Manage Subscriptions. Trouble clicking? Copy and paste this URL into your browser: https://orenhammerquist.wordpress.com/2015/03/14/special-offer-limited-time/ Thanks for flying with WordPress.com