C. Lee McKenzie

Young Adult and Middle Grade Author

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What’s The Focus?

April 16, 2018 By C. Lee McKenzie 57 Comments

Since I’m not featuring any authors this month, I’m just posting things I enjoy writing about. If I seem scattered, you’re right. I’m still re-organizing my computer after it  murdered so many of my files, and I’m busy with two book launches. More about that next time, but right now, let’s talk focus.

 
 
There are four parts to any story: the world or milieu, the idea, the character(s) and the event.  So with only four elements, we should soon be bored reading stories, right? I mean they are the same, again and again.
 
But no. That’s not the case because each story is filtered through a unique human brain, and each human who writes will have a different part of the story that matters most to him. What is most important to the writer will be what is most important in the story. 
 
In theory, if four people wrote The Wizard of Oz, there could be four different stories. One might focus on milieu, whereas, the next three might focus on the other story elements.
 

So let’s say you want the world or milieu to be paramount. Your characters will enter this world you’ve created, they’ll look around, react and interact with it, and they’ll let you find out what this place is about while, at the same time, they’re finding out about it. 



Think of Alice. Now, there is one milieu-dominated story. Alice moves through an underground realm of odd tea parties and even odder court trials, then she returns home, having finally understood the futility of trying to make meaning out of any of her encounters. Critics of the story say that, unlike a good milieu story, Alice hasn’t been transformed by her experience, and this is often noted as the failure of the novel. If she had returned to her “real” world different than when she entered it, the story would have been a stronger one. Still Carroll’s milieu tale is popular and continues to entertain readers.

 
 
If it’s the idea that you want to focus on, then your character is going be in search of answers to questions. Who killed the lord of the manor? Was it the butler? What destroyed the world you created? Meteorite? Alien? The rest of the story is letting the character discover the answer. Wasn’t Agatha Christie a master at the idea story? If you love mysteries, you love the focus to be on the idea.
 

But the characters, you say. They must be the focus, especially the protagonist. And in a character-focused story, they are the focus. The character(s) start in one place and end in another. With my story Double Negative, my guy, Hutch McQueen, is stuck in an abusive home, and his one thought is escape. The problem is he can’t because he makes one bad choice after another that prevents his escape. It’s not until he starts making smart choices (and that take some serious work) that he finds the way out of the mess he’s in. And viola! He’s a new kind of kid–still flawed, but with an idea of how to make his way through the world without landing in trouble. 

 

When the author focuses on an event that throws the established world order into chaos, then you’ve got a story that requires either knitting up the old order or creating a new one. Shakespeare did the event story a lot. Macbeth to name one. 

 
Every focus has its excitement and its effectiveness in the hands of a good writer. It doesn’t matter to me whether I’m reading Gulliver’s Travels (a milieu focus), And Then There Was None (an idea focus), Holes (a character focus) or Hamlet (an event focus). They’re all excellent. They all capture my imagination and keep me engaged because they are so well told. 

Quote of the Week: “Tell me the facts and I’ll learn. Tell me the truth and I’ll believe. But tell me a story and it will live in heart forever.” – Native American Proverb

 

Filed Under: Craft of Writing Tagged With: writing

A Writer Persevering!

October 25, 2017 By C. Lee McKenzie 9 Comments

I’m happy to tell people about this new book and to participate in #writerspersevere. This is my first post on my new blog, so it’s a very exciting day. Also if it looks a little wonky, I’m still tweaking it. Give me some slack. Please.

 

Life isn’t easy, and that’s been proven to me in many ways, but none like deciding to become a writer. Unlike most writers, I didn’t set out to publish. This all happened because I found an article about self-abuse, and I wanted to know more about it. My research was supposed to produce a short article. It produced a book instead.

Sliding on the Edge by C. Lee McKenzie

I wrote Sliding on the Edge to explore the feelings I had after understanding some of the underlying causes of cutting or other self-inflicted pain. I never thought I’d sell it, but I did, and then I sold another, and then I was a writer. I actually started telling people that’s what I did. And that was a brave step because you know how the conversation flows after that declaration.

“Oh? What have you published?”

“Well, X, Y and Z.”

“Never heard of them.”

Is that familiar?

No new road is easy to navigate, so I plowed ahead, and anonymity soon became only one of my problems. [Read more…] about A Writer Persevering!

Filed Under: Blog Hops Tagged With: writing

What The Delivery Guys From Macy’s Taught Me & Nick’s Cover

July 31, 2017 By C. Lee McKenzie 53 Comments

Last month we splurged and bought a new couch. And since we want to keep Macy’s in business, we went to their brick and mortal store to make our purchase and schedule the delivery. You know, old school. No drone drop off. No UPS truck.

When the delivery guys arrived, they were cheerful and courteous and dressed in crisp, clean shirts and pants. They rolled out a red carpet at our front door and put on shoe covers before coming inside. Once they’d brought in the couch and put the room back in order (lamps, tables, rug), they handed me an evaluation form. [Read more…] about What The Delivery Guys From Macy’s Taught Me & Nick’s Cover

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: Nick Wilford, writing

Why You Shouldn’t Write Books

June 26, 2017 By C. Lee McKenzie 66 Comments

I’m always entertained by things my non-writer friends say about what I do. Things like, “It’s so neat that you do your own thing without other people telling how to do it.”  Or, “Love the idea of royalties. I’d like to make lots of money while I’m on vacation.” Or, “How neat it would be to work by myself! I wouldn’t have to get along with that bunch in the office.” And here’s a great one. “So you just write the story and send it to an editor who fixes all the problems?”
Right. 
I thought this article might show them how wrong their ideas are about what a writer’s life is like and maybe someone considering a writing career might find this useful as well.
So what are the reasons Not To Write?
If you can’t take criticism, put down your pen and turn off that computer. From the first  word to the last period, your writing should be up for comment and suggestion. If you’re lucky, you have a professional and keen-eyed critique group that will help you make your manuscript the best it can be before you put it up for sale. And if you do make a sale and your book is published, your readers may or may not be delighted with what you’ve written. Reviews can be great and they can be terrible. 
If you think you’re going to make lots of money fast, think again. Sure there are some writers who hit the top and stay there, but the majority do not. Many don’t sell books at all. Some sell a few. Some do manage to create a steady income. It’s a hard game and you have to be prepared for not seeing a lot of return for your time and energy invested.

If you can’t get along with others, you’re in for some hard times as a writer. There will be deadlines to meet. If you don’t meet them, you inconvenience others. There will be people who want your help and support with their writing. If you can’t do that, then don’t expect others to help and support your writing. Then there will be the public, the people who read your books. If you you can’t interact with them, so that they enjoy meeting you, do you think they’ll look for your next book? Quite possibly not.

If you don’t want to spend the time editing and re-writing, then take up tennis or go shopping. A good book isn’t written the first time through. If anyone says they can do a first draft that’s perfect, I want to see it. 
Can you think of other reasons people shouldn’t write books?


Don’t forget to visit my Featured Follower of the Month, J.H. Moncrief, if you haven’t already. And are you up for some free books? Say so in the comment section.  
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My Email Connect Followers are in for a treat this month with two free book offers from this author. Thanks, J.H.


If you haven’t heard the great news, The Insecure Writer’s Support Group is now in the top 101 best websites on Writer’s Digest!




Quote of the Week: “No performer should attempt to bite off red-hot iron unless he has a good set of teeth.” Harry Houdini (This is true of writers, too! Don’t you think?)

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: IWSG, j.h. Moncrief, writing, Writing Tips

Good News, AtoZChallenge Theme Reveal and Hats Off Corner Welcomes Nick Wilford

March 23, 2015 By C. Lee McKenzie 77 Comments

Good News


Principal Kyle Niederman deserves a pat on the back for putting his Cincinnati school kids at the forefront of concern. The school was to be closed for the 5th day in a row due to severe weather, and many of his students depend on free or subsidized lunches to guarantee one meal a day. No school. No lunch. So this principal asked his staff to deliver bags of food to those kids most in need. Now that’s a caring kind of guy.

 And Now. . . The AtoZ Challenge Theme Reveal!

SIGN UP FOR THE ATOZ NOW

If you’ve been here a few times this past year, you know I was in Burma (Myanmar) in November. Some of you who’ve stuck with me for a few years know I have the travel bug, and it bites quite frequently, so it can’t be any surprise that my theme this is going to be. . .Burma from A to Z.

I’ve added a small T/F quiz at the end of each post, so you can test you knowledge about this part of the world.  No grades. Just a bit of a challenge to pique your interest.

Hats Off Corner Welcomes Nick Wilford


REBEKAH ROMANI
A Change of Mind and Other Stories consists of a novella, four short stories and one flash fiction piece. This collection puts the extremes of human behavior under the microscope with the help of lashings of dark humor, and includes four pieces previously published in Writer’s Muse magazine.
In A Change of Mind, Reuben is an office worker so meek and mild he puts up with daily bullying from his boorish male colleagues as if it’s just a normal part of his day. But when a stranger points him in the direction of a surgeon offering a revolutionary new procedure, he can’t pass up the chance to turn his life around.
But this isn’t your average surgeon. For a start, he operates alone in a small room above a mechanic’s. And he promises to alter his patients’ personality so they can be anything they want to be…
In Marissa, a man who is determined to find evidence of his girlfriend’s infidelity ends up wondering if he should have left well alone.
The Dog God finds a chink in the armor of a man with a megalomaniacal desire to take over the world.
In The Insomniac, a man who leads an obsessively regimented lifestyle on one hour’s sleep a night finds a disruption to his routine doesn’t work for him.
Hole In One sees a dedicated golfer achieving a lifelong ambition.
The Loner ends the collection on a note of hope as two family members try to rebuild their lives after they are torn apart by jealousy.
Bio
Nick Wilford is a writer and stay-at-home dad. Once a journalist, he now makes use of those rare times when the house is quiet to explore the realms of fiction, with a little freelance editing and formatting thrown in. When not working, he can usually be found spending time with his family or cleaning something. Nick is also the editor of Overcoming Adversity: An Anthology for Andrew. You can find him hanging out on his blog or on Goodreads or Twitter.
Preorder Links: Amazon US, Amazon UK

Add it on Goodreads



Quote for the Day “The aging process has you firmly in its grasp if you never get the urge to throw a snowball.” Columnist Doug Larson

Will you be AtoZing? Does learning a bit about Burma interest you at all? (Lie if the answer is no.) Was the news good enough about the principal? 




Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: A-Z Theme Reveal, Arlee Bird, hat's of corner, Nick Wilford, writing

Good News and On The Writing Side of Life

March 2, 2015 By C. Lee McKenzie 41 Comments

Good News

Ronnie Polaneczky To The Rescue

A young couple had lost 13 days of work waiting for the reliable and ever-efficient technicians from Comcast to arrive, but to no avail. When A news columnist, who is used to hearing complaints about Comcast service or lack thereof, was so touched by a young couple’s story that she took desperate measures. Ronnie Polaneczky called CEO Brian Roberts’s 92 year old mom.  

The couple had their service the next day. This is double good news: someone cared enough to step in and help strangers, and Mom still rules!

READ MORE

On the Writing Side of Life

Last week I visited SARAH FOSTER’S blog and read her post about symbolism and getting messages out to others. 

I’d just been having a conversation with someone who knows me quite well, and he said, “Your books are all about who you are and what you believe in.” I think I said something like, “You’re nuts.” I can be subtle once in a while.

But Sarah’s post caught me up short. That guy who knows me, knows me, I guess. Because when I thought about each of my books, they did have messages about things that are very important to me. It has just taken me a while to figure all of that out. And here I thought I was simply telling stories.

What I hope is that my work never moralizes. I’d hate to be accused of using my writing as a soapbox. Didactic writing is a bore.

I’ve just started to shred an old manuscript and set it free from some very self-conscious prose. So this was a chance to think about the underlying messages this story might have. I was surprised to find one of my lifelong philosophies dead center. I’ve always loved to see justice in our world, and this story will be all about finding it, even after death. I’m a romantic at heart, and if you can’t have your justice in this life, then I think you deserve it afterward. It’s never too late. 

What about your own stories? Do they have your philosophy at their core? Have you read books that you recognized their underlying message, but appreciated it because it deepened the story? Any favorite books with messages? 

Have you signed up for the #AtoZChallenge yet? If not, better get going.

SIGN UP HERE

My Quote for the Day

“Ultimately, the only power to which man should aspire is that which he exercises over himself.” Elie Wiesel

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: Good News, writing

One Way To Decide About Those Unfinished Projects

December 2, 2013 By C. Lee McKenzie 24 Comments

How many unfinished WIP’s are in your desk drawer or on the shelf–maybe way at the back? 

I have a few and when I found this article by ELLEN CASSEDY, I paid attention the questions she proposed writers ask themselves when they’re stuck on a project.

She writes, “I don’t ask these questions right from the start. At first, I give myself a chance to experiment, to take risks, to give my attachment to the work a chance to grow. But after a while, I ask myself:
    • Am I behind this work 100%?  Do I love it to pieces?
    • When I imagine it published, do I feel peacock-proud, or kind of nervous?
    • Can I see myself traveling around the country, reading from a podium?
    • Have I sought out readers who really matter, experts who have the        authority to judge the work and suggest improvements?
    • Have I listened very carefully to what those readers have to say?”
My resolution for 2014 is to look carefully at my stalled WIP’s and ask each of Ellen’s questions as I review those stories. 
For the whole article by Ellen click HERE.

Any other questions you could add to Ellen’s list? Share ’em, please. 

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: writing

Monday Miscellany–Some Questions About Writing

November 28, 2011 By C. Lee McKenzie 14 Comments

One thing about being a writer is that you think about words . . .  a lot. You think about what they mean and how they impact you and others. And then there are questions about if the words you choose will convey what you want or if they will have meaning beyond the time you write in.

I loved the post about on Tossing it Out earlier this month. Arlee Bird posed the questions,
“Is your writing mostly in vain? Would you rather make a good living at what you do now and be consigned to the back pages of history?  Or would you prefer the status of struggling artist who gains fame after you are dead and gone?”

In my mind, no writing’s in vain, even when you write in a journal or a diary with no thought of sharing with anyone. What you set onto a page is unique and, therefore, worthwhile. It’s yours and no one else will express the ideas the way you do.  Unless you “copy, word for word” from another writer, an idea that’s similar will be developed differently. Balzac encouraged others to take his ideas and use them. It was his opinion that if writers used his work and incorporated it into their own, he would have another shot at immortality. Now that’s an interesting take on things, and it might bear examination, especially when the accusations of plagiarism come up.

As to the choice of making a living now or being forgotten I don’t think we have much to say about that. We can write for popular consumption today, and what we write will remain the same while the culture and the readers will evolved into something we may never imagine.

I wonder if Shakespeare considered the long journey his plays and sonnets would make as he wrote them. I believe he would would be surprised at his current status in the world. Elated, yes. But definitely surprised. But let’s face it, he had a way of weaving words together that, even though archaic now and somewhat challenging to understand, pulls at our hearts and makes us flock to those Shakespeare in the Park productions each summer. If we learn anything from his example it is to examine that prose of ours and consider the way it sounds as well as what it conveys. Oh yes, and then there’s the matter of all those universal themes that he wrote about that still tug at our hearts.

So write, write, write and enjoy the act. If you’re lucky, if you’re skilled/talented, if the timing is right you’ll sell your book to readers. If your stars really line up, in a few hundred years you could be a best selling author. Only time will tell. (Oops! Cliche alert.)

Now I’m off to write something. Hope you’ll jump in and add your ideas about Arlee’s questions. Coming this December I’ll be joining Alex Cavanaugh’s Insecure Writer’s Blog Hop. If you want to come on board, just sign up and post about all your insecurity the first Wednesday of each month. See you there, I hope.

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: Monday Miscellany, writing

Those Gimmicky First Lines: Ax ’em!

February 21, 2011 By C. Lee McKenzie 18 Comments

Last week I said I delete a first line if I don’t think it sets the tone for my book, and I promised to discuss the other reasons I delete first lines. The gimmicky line definitely gets the ax in my stories. What’s a gimmicky line? It’s something that catches the eye, shocks with its intensity, promises something that the author fails to deliver in the following paragraph or the rest of the book. 

Here’s an example:

Marge stood at the edge of the canyon, ready to end her life on the count of three. Last year she’d had nothing but wonderful adventures ahead of her–glamorous parties, trips to any place in the world. Her mom and she lived together then, and her mom didn’t approve of that kind of lifestyle. She always shook her head when Marge came down the stairs dressed for an evening out or a trip to Paris. What did her dowdy mother know? Nothing. Neither did her dad. He never did much except read the sports pages.

Huh? Just look at the poor reader who thought she was getting into something really exciting. She was promised this count of three, a girl hurling herself off the cliff to sure death, and then suddenly she’s back to a year before, discussing Mom and Dad. Maybe this backstory can come later, but not now, not on this first page. On the first page the writer has to maintain the intensity she’s established with that opening line.

It took a while for me to decide what was gimmicky rather than intense, interesting and fresh. So here’s what I came up with to test the openings I write.  I ask myself these questions:

1) What does that line do to start developing the character?

2) What does it do to show the reader something about the narrator?

3) How about the setting? Does it take the reader where my story will happen?

4)  Does it help to establish the tone of my story?

5) And, of course, does the paragraph that follows sustain my first line? How about the rest of the page? The chapter?

One line can’t do all of these things, but I think it should do at least one and do it well. Note that the categories are for discussion and convenience and not always clear-cut, especially when the writer is skilled and can pack a lot into a few words. One thing that I really like to accomplish is to reveal any of these four story elements and jolt the reader at the same time with the unexpected, the tantalizing, the bizarre. 

Okay, so I want something that will keep eyes on my writing, that will get the reader to move on to my first paragraph (where, of course, I still must shine as a writer), and then to the bottom of that first page where I’ll make them turn to page two with a brilliant “what’s next” sentence. So, you see what I’m saying? The first line is very important, but you can’t hang everything on it even when it’s the most fabulous first line ever written.

Here are a few first lines I admire. I’ve tried to separate them out according to the categories I use–again for discussion and convenience. And you’ll notice I don’t stick with YA and MG; I don’t stick with the most recent books either.

Character:

“The first time I saw him he couldn’t have been more than sixteen years old a little ferret of a kid, sharp and quick.” Schulberg, What Makes Sammy Run?

“The first thing I did was steal a body.” Lester,  Bedeviled 

“I planned my death carefully; unlike my life, which meandered along from one thing to another despite my feeble attempts to control it.” Atwood, Lady Oracle

Narrator: 

“If I’d blinked, I would have missed it.” Henry, Learning to Swim

“She saw a beach made of ice, and she felt her heart breaking.” Lo, Huntress

Setting: 

“When he woke in the woods in the dark and the cold of the night he’d reached out to touch the child sleeping beside him.” McCarthy,  The Road

“On rainy days, we don’t have to work in the woods, gathering water until our backs ache and our fingers tremble around out spoons.” Bachorz, Drought

“Ten minutes before it happened, four-year-old Laurie Kenyon was sitting cross-legged on the floor of the den rearranging the furniture in her dollhouse.” Clark, All Around the Town

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: Openings, writing

Rejection or Learning From Those First Line Mistakes-l

February 16, 2011 By C. Lee McKenzie 22 Comments

If any of you authors visiting here today has never been rejected, stop reading now and go something useful, like wash the dishes or vacuum the car. But if you have suffered that heart-stinging, stomach-wrenching, “Thank you for considering us for your manuscript. Unfortunately,  blah-blah-blah,” then read on.

I’ve been very fortunate to find an editor who likes what I write and who is patient enough to read through my manuscripts, then offer suggestions that will shape them into publishable pieces. But getting to this point has been the most difficult job I’ve ever tackled and that includes trying to land a Marlin a few years back.

There are many good statements, chapters, books about how to become a published author (and, for now, I’m not including self-publishing as an option and sticking with the traditional route). When I boiled down most of this advice, I came up with a rule for myself.

After three rejections of the same manuscript, I take a  hard look at those opening lines to see if I can find out what’s wrong–why agents and editors aren’t asking me to read more of my “brilliant” work. What I’ve decided is that ten to one the problem is in those first lines, that first paragraph, those first 1 to 3 chapters.

I start by deleting that first line when:

it doesn’t sufficiently set the tone for my book. 

it’s more gimmicky than intense, interesting, fresh.
it has anything that even smells like a cliche.
it’s standoffish from what follows next.
it’s overblown for what follows next.

In this post I’ll deal with tone.

So what is tone? It’s your voice that should start at the beginning and continue all the way through your book. Do you want your book to be humorous? How about intimate? Scary? Here are some examples of what I think are strong opening lines to books that sustain the tone these lines establish immediately.

“Today I moved to a twelve-acre rock covered with cement, topped with bird turd and surrounded by water.” Choldenko, Al Capone Does My Shirts

It’s her word choice, her pov and the sentence structure that plunks the reader on Alcatraz as seen from her kid’s eyes. If you’ve read her story, you know that’s exactly the tone through out–youthful, a touch sarcastic, but with a heap of charm.

“The first thing you find out when yer dog learns to talk is that dogs don’t got nothing much to say.” Ness, The Knife of Never Letting Go


Notice, “yer” and “don’t got nothing.” Ness has set up the language and the sarcastic tone for his MC, then he lures us into a futuristic world immediately, a one where dogs learn to talk. One line, folks. One perfect line.

Next post I’ll be dealing with gimmicky first lines and why they just don’t work–IMHMO. Want to share other notable first lines that set the tone and make you read on? How about sharing one of your own? You’ve labored over it, maybe someone will learn from what you’ve created or be able to offer a suggestion that will catch that next agent’s or editor’s eye. 

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: first lines, rejection, writing

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