Tag Archives: publishing

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Oops, I Dropped a Stitch!

propic11_1This Post by L.Leander, Author of Fearless Fiction

Do you know how to knit?  Once you’ve cast on a few stitches you follow a pattern to create beautiful works of art that are also useful and warm.  But what happens when you don’t follow the pattern exactly?  Will the structure fall apart?  Or will it create something even more beautiful?

I learned to knit at a young age.  We had a neighbor in our small farming community who was an avid knitter and her entire family wore the beautiful garments she spent long hours to craft.  Fascinated, I asked her if she would teach she and me agreed.  I was about eleven at the time and I was instantly hooked.  The sound of the needles as they clacked together in my inept hands was music to my ears as I learned to cast on and do the garter stitch (knitting every row).  My first work of art was misshapen but Mrs. Vipond cheered me on.  Every Saturday afternoon became my favorite day of the week as I rode the two miles on my bike down a winding country road under a leafy ceiling of oak and maple trees that protected me from the summer sun.knit

Mrs. Vipond always met me at the door with a cool drink and her current knitting project and we sat on the porch to knit and watch the birds in the feeder fight over the seed it contained.  An occasional fly or lazy bumblebee made its way to the table where our sticky drinks of lemonade sat but we paid them no mind

There was something about the feel of a skein of yarn and the needles in my hands that excited my young mind.  When I realized that I could turn a piece of string into something beautiful it amazed me and I couldn’t wait to find out how my piece would look.

It’s from Mrs. Vipond that I learned a very good lesson.  If your work is wrong, take it out.  Believe me, I did a lot of that as I progressed to more difficult stitches and patterns!  If there was a dropped stitch at the beginning my able teacher taught me how to weave it in so it wasn’t even visible.  I didn’t mind the long hours because in the end I knew it would be worth it.  My goal was to knit a sweater with deer on it.  My teacher had made a beautiful one for her son and my goal was to learn to knit that type of intricate pattern.

This memory made me think about writing.  Here are five things you can apply from knitting to your writing to make the finished piece shine.

  • Build a good foundation.  Cast on the base stitches and make them even and neat so they’ll hold the story structure.
  • Learn to write evenly.  Just like knitting, your work must be neat, with all the stitches spaced in like fashion so the finished piece pleases the eye.
  • Practice makes perfect.  No matter how many times you have to take it apart, your work will be better for the attention to detail.
  • Find a mentor or teacher.  None of us know everything about the craft of writing.  Just as I sought out a teacher to teach me to knit, you can find someone to help you navigate the intricacies of writing.
  • Choose your tools wisely.  Those who do a lot of knitting know that good needles and yarn make all the difference.  Don’t be afraid to use grammar checkers, word processing programs or other helpful aids for writers.  They can only make your work better.

The sweater with the deer was my goal and by the time I was fourteen I reindeer-vintage-sweater-patternachieved it.  I still remember how proud I was of that garment when I wore it to a toboggan party and got rave reviews from all my friends.  Knitting is one of my favorite pastimes and as a writer I am glad to be able to use the skills I learned early on in life to apply to my writing.

What about you?  Do you have a favorite craft or skill you learned as a child?  Is it applicable to your writing?  Do you use good tools to craft your stories?

Books by L.Leander:

 

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Does Your Reader Need Sunglasses?

propic11_1This Post by L.Leander, Author of Fearless Fiction

There is a segment on the morning news now about the need to wear protective eyewear in the sun.  Being in a tropical country I well know the value of protecting your eyes from the rays that shine down unmercifully here.

But how does this apply to writing?  Let me ask these questions.

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  • Are there glaring errors in your manuscript?  Do readers need to wear blinders as they navigate the story?
  • Is your book cover professional or does it hurt the eyes to look at it?
  • Does your photo say author or something totally different?  Most readers don’t want to see a writer weeding her garden (unless the book is on that subject).  Get as professional a picture as you can so readers will instantly recognize you for your work.
  • Do your characters shine?sunAre they so drab and devoid of personality that the reader can look at them with the naked eye?  Or are they full of life and color?
  • What about your book title?  Does it grab attention or say something boring?  Make it sizzle.

These are only a few things you need to pay attention to as you seek to market your bookcraft.  There are many others that may cause readers to turn away because of the glare.

What can you do to make your writing better?  Do you have a professional creative team in place?  Can you add personality to your characters?  Is your photo professional?  This is a good time to fine-tune your latest book, don’t you think?

Books by L.Leander: