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Humber School For Writers Correspondence Course

~ Kristina Stanley ~ 2 Comments

#writetip The Humber School For Writers correspondence course for 2012 is now underway.

The students have sent their submissions to their mentors and the mentors are getting geared up to read them and send their comments back.

I attended the correspondence course in 2008 and had Joan Barfoot as my mentor.

The opportunity to have a professional read and comment on my work was irresistible.

The lessons I learned have stayed with me and I think made my writing better. If you are new to writing and want your work to be critiqued this might be a way for you to get it. Check it out at HSW.

Getting The Most Out Of Your Readers

~ Kristina Stanley ~ 6 Comments

#writetip Here are some of things to think about when having others read your drafts.

What you give your reader might depend on where you are in the process.

Early on, say after the first draft but well before you send it to an agent/publisher, you might want to give your reader smaller sections. This can be several scenes or a chapter.The value: Your reader can give you quick feedback on style, grammar, problems with story line, vacant scene, etc. You can then use this information to update the next section before sending it to them. Each section should be better than the last making you create a strong second draft.

When you think you have something you might send to an agent/publisher, this is the time to have a new reader (not the same person that read your early draft) to read your novel cover to cover.

The value: Your reader can comment on larger story issues, flow, pacing, believability, loose ends, etc.

Finally, don’t forget the phase of having someone other than yourself proofread. Here is where you need someone with attention to detail.

This works for me and I’m sure there are many ways to get the same result. I just can’t imagine sending out a manuscript without the help of others.

Dogs and Dingys

~ Kristina Stanley ~ 4 Comments

#sailing Sometimes your pup needs to need to be tied and sometimes not. Cali is in the foreground, Farley in the back.

When you forget to bring a leash, it’s perfectly acceptable to use the dingy anchor.

Normally Farley isn’t tied, but we’re at Emerald Rock in the Bahamas. The island is covered with little animals that I think they are tree rats – but what do I know.

The wheaten terriers were bread as ratters, so Farley thought he was supposed to chase these little critters. So. . . poor guy actually had to be leashed.

Kindle As A Learning Aid

~ Kristina Stanley ~ 2 Comments

#writetip If you’ve been following my blog for a while, you’ll know I use a Kindle to help me write my novel.

Here’s my latest use. I read “How to Write” books. Normally I’d highlight a hard copy and then later browse through the book looking for what I found interesting. I might even copy a tip into my journal. It was all so time consuming.

I’ve discovered the highlight function on my Kindle. Now when I’m reading at “How to Write” book, I do an electronic highlight. Then when I’ve read the book the highlighted notes are all stored in one place.

You can open the highlights and only read that.

In the end, you get the nitty gritty of the book, minus all the filler that goes around the tips. Way faster than my older method.

Windsurfing and Kiting At Compass Cay

~ Kristina Stanley ~ 3 Comments

#sailing Our friend, Wayne, is on the kite board. Matt, my husband, is on the windsurfer. Both are  having an exciting ride in the shallows between Compass Cay and Pipe Cay, Bahamas.

This is a high tide ride only.

At low tide, the sand shows through.

The game for the week was to hit the beach about halfway to high tide

Dogs and Yoga?

~ Kristina Stanley ~ 1 Comment
Farley is late for class.

#sailing What could be better than a downward dog to make you feel good? Farley’s answer: A downward dog on the beach with your yoga pals.

Yoga is an easy way to keep fit while cruising. If you don’t happen to have a yoga instructor handy you can bring yoga classes on an iPod and play them on the beach. You’re only gear – A yoga mat. It doesn’t weigh much and doesn’t take up a lot of room.

Doing yoga alone is okay, but it’s much more fun with friends. Farley attends regularly and find his spot near the others. If you’re not watching he’ll grab your mat before you do.

Small Caps

~ Kristina Stanley ~ 2 Comments

#writetip Tricks of the trade are hard to come by, and it’s one more reason to have a mentor. If you’re a Canadian crime writer you might want to check out CWC. My mentor, Garry Ryan, President of Crime Writers of Canada, pointed out that I should use small caps when using acronyms such as RCMP, SUV, or DIN. Here is the same sentence. The first is 12 point for all words. The second has RCMP written in small caps.

RCMP Constable Wagner prepared herself for a fight. She squared her body . . .

or

RCMP Constable Wagner prepared herself for a fight. She squared her body . . .

The second sentence is the correct way. It even looks better on the page. You can see for yourself how RCMP blends better in small caps and doesn’t pull the eye away from the rest of the words.

Cruising Friends

~ Kristina Stanley ~ 4 Comments
Emerald Rock, Bahamas

#sailing One of the fun things about cruising is happy hour on the beach.

This is the our gang we tend to travel or buddy boat with.

Debi and Bruce on a (on left of photo) Bristol.

Matt and I (holding my lap dog – not) on a Lagoon 380 catamaran.

Sue and Paul on a Grand Banks.

Sharon (holding Cali) and Wayne on an American Tug.

Buddy boating gives us a sense of community and safety. Between the boats, we always have what we need on hand. Okay, not always, but we can usually rig something together.

Throughout the season, the boats travel to different spots and regroup as the wind takes allows us. We all like different conditions for traveling, and we all like to “bump” into each other once in a while.