Dorothy Kilgallen-Her Pen was Her Scalpel.

Ronovan #BeWoW, Quotes , , , , , , , , , ,

“Why can’t I be the adorable one?” Dorothy Kilgallen

Dorothy Kilgallen-Adorable Quote

It’s doubtful many of you have heard the name Dorothy Kilgallen. The shame of it is you should have. Moreover, if born in the right generation, you couldn’t wait for Sunday nights at 10:30.

Groundbreaking journalist, TV legend, and hard as nails crime investigator, Kilgallen was generations and decades ahead of her time. If not for her, Harrison Ford wouldn’t have a hit in The Fugitive.

Kilgallen’s testimony is the reason Dr. Sam Sheppard received a new trial for the murder of his wife, and ended up released from prison. Forensic advancements years later proved Kilgallen was right in her deductions of Sheppard’s innocence.

She dissected crime reports and testimonies like a skilled surgeon. Her abilities amazed millions, yet she wanted more. She wanted to be the girl next-door people loved for being adorable, cute. However, her wit, her intelligence, and her honesty with a pen in her weekly column read by millions earned her powerful enemies that were cruel in their retaliation.

When Dorothy did a series on Frank Sinatra in the 1950s and spoke of his egocentric personality, he fought back by calling her a chinless wonder in his nightclub acts. He couldn’t argue the facts of her reporting, so he attacked her on a personal level.

In the 1960s she sunk her teeth into the JFK assassination. She ripped the Warren Report to shreds, had a rumored interview with Jack Ruby, and was about to publish her findings when she was found dead in her bed—the file with all her findings—missing. On the nightstand were two glasses, though her husband slept in another room. The sleeping pills in her stomach—Three different kinds. It was ruled an accident from the mixture of alcohol and pills.

The journalist surgeon with a pen was dead.

The lady who became famous by traveling around the world in 24 days back in 1936, when she was 23, for a contest amongst three reporters and newspapers, never understood the adulation she had. Maybe it was in part due to her philandering husband.

On the panel game show juggernaut of the time, What’s My Line?, Kilgallen wanted to be the adorable one, but couldn’t match the personality of Arlene Francis, the darling of Broadway who had a show on all three networks at the same time, and performed in Broadway shows. What she did instead was guess more professions of contestants than anyone else.

From beginning to end, Dorothy Kilgallen was an untypical woman in a world not ready for her. On the other hand, maybe she didn’t realize the world was happy with who she was, regardless of when it was.

She may not have been the perfect person, friend, or wife, but she was dedicated to her field. And she was unmatched.

This is one of my favorite quotes of hers.

“I think sometimes it is more important to be gracious than to win.” Dorothy Kilgallen

dorothy-kilgallen-gracious-quote

This is my contribution to Colleen Chesebro of SilverThreading.com’s#BeWoW and Writer's Quote Wednesday Writer’s Quote Wednesday. For those participating in the #BeWoW movement of positive posts, you may leave your links in the comments below, or do a ping back to this post if you wish. Use the hashtag #BeWoW on Twitter to help your posts receive RTs from others.

Ronovan Hester is an author, with a debut historical adventure novel Amber Wake: Gabriel Falling due out in December of 2015. He shares his life as an amnesiac and Chronic Pain sufferer through his blog RonovanWrites.WordPress.com. His love of writing, authors and community through his online world has led to a growing Weekly Haiku Challenge, Weekly Fiction Prompt Challenge, and the creation of a site dedicated to book reviews, interviews and author resources known as LitWorldInterviews.com.

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

@RonovanWrites

 © Copyright-All rights reserved by ronovanwrites.wordpress.com 2015

NEW FORM of Haiku & Poetry.

Ronovan Poetry, Writing , , , , , ,

What do you get when you combine Free Verse Poetry with Haiku? A new form of poetry I call Freku. I’ve looked around and haven’t found this concept anywhere, but there is always that possibility of it being an old idea.

Instructions:

  • Write a poem with stanzas four lines each.
  • The first two stanzas should rhyme.
  • The next two stanzas should rhyme.
  • Continue in this manner for each stanza until completed with poem.
  • Close with a Haiku of 5/7/5 or 3/5/3 syllable structure that is basically the prose piece in three lines.

By taking a standard poem (And I do mean a normal poem, regardless of my example I did.) and then attempting to sum that poem up in the three lines of a Haiku, you have quite a challenge. It is almost like developing a proverb of the poem.

I attempted my first one for a post this past Monday titled Gasps for Breath. Originally the beginning poem was a standard rhyming free verse piece. Then I decided to challenge myself and cut each line down to form Haiku like stanzas. (I only include this to explain MY FREKU, not what you would do if you wanted to try it.)

5 Syllables
7 Syllables
5 Syllables
7 Syllables

5 Syllables
7 Syllables
5 Syllables
7 Syllables

5 Syllables
7 Syllables
5 Syllables
7 Syllables
7 Syllables
7 Syllables

Then the Haiku.
5 Syllables
7 Syllables
5 Syllables

Every two lines rhyme. That is how I did it. Call it my daily awareness of entries into the Fiction Challenge where I look for those pesky adverbs and dialogue tags, or my glutton for punishment, but I enjoyed cutting out the fat of the poem I created, maintaining rhymes, and maybe ending with a better poem.

After I created the idea of the poem and haiku combination, I went looking for other possible similar creations. I found the Chōka, a form Japaense poetry, or Waka. Waka means Japanese poem.

The Chōka is, or was, a narrative Waka in the 5-7-5-7-5-7-5-7-7 form during the Nara period. Think of this as an extended Tanka (5-7-5-7-7). The Chōka died out as a poetic form by the 10th Century (the beginning of the Heian period), and was replaced by the Tanka.

My inaugural piece, Gasps for Breath, was created initially as a free form poem with no aim at anything but expression. Somewhere along the way I decided to sum it up in a Haiku using the challenge words from my weekly haiku challenge. That led me to the creation of the Freku. It took longer to develop the name than the actual poem piece. I chose several names but all were taken for either poetry forms or some very inappropriate things. I’m still not completely happy with the name but it does give some clue to what type of poetry it is.

It has been pointed out to me that this is similar to a Haibun, which combines prose in the various forms with a closing/summary Haiku. For my purpose of this exercise I intend to stick to poetry without any forms of prose outside of poetry.

The Freku is not  a new challenge prompt idea. Some have linked to it with their own versions, and that is somewhat humbling to think people liked the idea that much. If you want to do a Freku and share it, you can always link it to the Weekly Haiku Challenge, and I’ll include the link in the review. It doesn’t have to relate to the challenge prompts. It would be the least I could do for anyone taking something I came up with and trying it out.

Freku, a new form of poetry.

 

Ronovan Hester is an author, with his debut historical adventure novel Amber Wake: Gabriel Falling due out in December of 2015. He shares his life as an amnesiac and Chronic Pain sufferer through his blog RonovanWrites.WordPress.com. His love of poetry, authors and community through his online world has led to a growing Weekly Haiku Challenge, Weekly Fiction Prompt Challenge, and the creation of a site dedicated to book reviews, interviews and author resources known as LitWorldInterviews.com.

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

@RonovanWrites

 © Copyright-All rights reserved by ronovanwrites.wordpress.com 2015

RonovanWrites #Weekly #Haiku #Poetry Prompt #Challenge #74 Cake&Wolf

Ronovan Haiku Prompt Challenge , , , , , , , , , ,

My goal this week was to give fun words with one being a noun and one being a verb, while still being a real challenge. It turns out I gave two words that could be nouns and verbs. If you look at the two words I imagine you will instantly see what my thoughts were. See if you can not go there, that is if you figure out what I was thinking. During the holiday seasons we all do what I was thinking. Either during the holiday or immediately after a time of religious adherence.

THESAURUS ALERT! It may be beneficial for variety and originality to visit the following links. CAKE and WOLF. Also click HERE for a NEW TYPE of poetry I’ve created/am working on that you may want to implement into the challenge.

Are you interested in having your Haiku entry included in our FREE eBook Project? Click HERE to find out more.

Check out Guidelines 2 and 3 for something new added. But nothing that changes anything.

MAKE SURE TO VISIT THE NEW WEEKLY FRIDAY FICTION with RONOVAN WRITES Challenge #4 By clicking HERE!

Ronovan Writes Haiku Challenge

Challenge #74

The Guidelines are simple.

  1. Take the two words and write a Haiku. I use Haiku in English as my style, which is 5 syllables for the first line, 7 for the second, and 5 for the third, but you can use what you like. For syllable help visit HowManySyllables.com.
  2. Or you can use the 3/5/3 style instead of 5/7/5.
  3. What to do a little bit more with your Haiku? Read Haiku, Tanka, and Haibun. It’s all poetry to me. Learn the difference.
  4. The two words can be used as you like. Words have different definitions and you can use the definitions you like. You can even use a synonym word as long as it does not change the meaning. Go to Thesaurus.com for Synonym help.
  5. Copy the link of your finished haiku URL  in a comment so we can all go and visit your site to see what you have done. I will comment on your site. You can do a ping back. What’s a ping back? Put a link back to this prompt page, if you like within your post, as long as it does not take away from your haiku. This is simply a prompt and challenge to encourage people to try Haiku and give some a prompt and a place to share in comments so we can find each other. A link in your post does give others a chance to find us and join in. Use one of the two below if you like. Click HERE for a detailed article on Ping Backs.
  6. Ping back Link https://ronovanwrites.wordpress.com/2015/12/07/ronovanwrites-weekly-haiku-poetry-prompt-challenge-74-cakewolf/
  7. Non Ping back Link https://ronovanwrites.wordpress.com/category/haiku-prompt-challenge/
  8. You may copy one of the badges/images appearing in this post below or above and place it on your site if you wish, most normally use it within their post. I am not saying you need to, but if you would like to do so then go ahead. It is simply my way of saying thank you for participating. I sometimes make custom images for the week, if time and health permits.
  9. The Challenge is currently posted at 8 AM New York City time on Mondays to give people a better chance than the old 9 AM time.
  10. Deadline is Noon New York City time on the Sunday following the Challenge Post release.

 ronovan-writes-haiku-challenge-shadow

The Challenge Words!

Cake & Wolf

Not sure how to write a Haiku? Click HERE for a quick How to write Haiku Poem in English Form.

Much Respect-Much Love

Ronovan

Ronovan Hester is an author, with his debut historical adventure novel Amber Wake: Gabriel Falling due out in December of 2015. He shares his life as an amnesiac and Chronic Pain sufferer through his blog RonovanWrites.WordPress.com. His love of poetry, authors and community through his online world has lead to a growing Weekly Haiku Challenge and the creation of a site dedicated to book reviews, interviews and author resources known as LitWorldInterviews.com.

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

@RonovanWrites

 © Copyright-All rights reserved by ronovanwrites.wordpress.com 2015

 

Gasps for Breath.

Ronovan Haiku, Poetry , , , , , , , , ,

Pain of life one leads,
Does not wither but exceeds.
Given winds of change,
My mind turns and twists, derange.

Torn ‘tween will and want,
What is it I can’t, I don’t?
  Cowed by maddened, dim lit eyes,
Failure I despise.

I yearn arms embrace,
But fate voids every trace.
Feelings remain deep,
I spurn my foe, night thief sleep.
To the sun promise may rise,
Reason for these tear filled eyes.

~*~

My love is a lump,
A cause for heart’s gasps for breath,
Consumes all my thoughts.

Heart's Gasps by Ronovan Hester

Hello everyone. Today I’m introducing something I believe is new. A normal poem followed by a Haiku that sums up the poem. I am calling this a Freku at this time. Write a normal poem, if you wish, followed by a Haiku that sums up the poem. Free verse plus Haiku equals Freku.

Can you take a poem and then sum it up in three lines of Haiku? Or perhaps the other way around? Look for an article (NEW FORM of Haiku & Poetry) coming soon to explain in more detail but I think this section covers it.

For mine I attempted a 5-7-5-7 for the first stanza, repeat for the next two, but at the end I include two more 7-7. And to wrap it all up I created a Haiku that sums up the poem.

I wrote a normal poem first then worked it down to the 5-7-5-7 patterns. That was as a challenge to myself.

Ronovan Hester is an author, with his debut historical adventure novel Amber Wake: Gabriel Falling due out in December of 2015. He shares his life as an amnesiac and Chronic Pain sufferer through his blog RonovanWrites.WordPress.com. His love of poetry, authors and community through his online world has lead to a growing Weekly Haiku Challenge and the creation of a site dedicated to book reviews, interviews and author resources known as LitWorldInterviews.com.

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

@RonovanWrites

 © Copyright-All rights reserved by ronovanwrites.wordpress.com 2015

The Cake by @TeresaSmeigh

Ronovan Haiku , , , , ,

The Cake by our friend Tessa. A bit of play on words here in addition to prompt usage. Click through to like on her post.

RonovanWrites 73rd #Weekly #Haiku #Poetry Challenge LINKS

Ronovan Haiku Poetry Challenge Reviews , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Visit those you haven’t.

Some of you may wonder why I don’t comment all the time on your Haiku posts. Sometimes I would end up saying the same thing twice, therefore I keep the comments for the review. You may also notice I don’t click like on your link comment in the Challenge post or on your blog post until the weekends normally. The like is my way of knowing I have put you in the review. I’ve read your Haiku before that.

Thank you for so many checking their ping backs.

Haiku Review 73

These are LINKS this week except for the NEW people. Issues beyond my control make it a bit difficult to focus on being anywhere near witty in commenting.

New Offenders!

NEW! Linda Lee: Shades of the Rainbow | Heal My Complex PTSD. The Haiku is in the comments of the challenge post and the Shades of the Rainbow link will take you there while the Heal My Complex PTSD will take you to her actual blog, click the blog link for a Brief History of Linda. @LadyQuixote

NEW! Wesley Hollifield: Snap Worthy | NearlyWes. A first Haiku Challenge that did not suck. I know you are wondering what I mean by that, you’ll need to go find out what I mean. “My name is still Wesley Pell Hollifield, I know right, shocker! I tried to get my legal name changed to Ash because I like to be the very best, but the court was all ‘That’s a bad joke’ and I was yelling ‘YOU JUST DON’T KNOW FUNNY!’” To find out the entire story, click HERE.

NEW! Geetha Prodhom: Shaking skies ink black | Geetha Balvannanathan’s Blog. OOOoooOOOo. A nature Haiku with that last night a very nice use of words. “I write because I mainly see beauty in the world and it touches me so much that I wish to express the feelings it generates but I also write from experiences I have gone through and ugly happenings I have witnessed for others and that too generates its own set of emotions which I then try to release through the same medium. I hope this blog brings a blend of all of this to those who wish to read it so that they may see the beauty and revel in it as well as see the ugliness and give some thought to what creates it.”  For the rest of the story click HERE. 

NEW! Ken G.: Two Sides of the Same Season | RIVRVLOGR. Two nature Haiku telling the flip sides of the winter season. Ken is brought to us through the viewing pleasure of Jane Dougherty’s entries.  “Retired, then transplanted from Western New York to Missouri, I find myself missing familiar sights, but remind myself that familiarity is a state of mind.” Click HERE for more.

NEW! Mark Schutter: BLACK and WHITE | Maleko’s Art. An interesting piece. It could describe so many things. Nature, art, humanity. You name it and this would cover it. I want to say Mark participated with us quite some time ago but I’ll reintroduce him here. “I am an artist attempting to capture a moment that may offer a fleeting glimpse of transcendence pulling back the curtain that often hides the beauty, the mystery, the peace, the mercy and love that we all crave.” A lot more HERE. I dare you, you’ll be surprised. @MWSchutter

First to Offend this Week!

Prakash: Moonlight Night | Its PH. Don’t blame Prakash for the title if it doesn’t fit the Haiku, it was my doing. Romance in the sea air with this one. @itsPHTweet

Annette Rochelle Aben (Best Selling Author, Radio Show Host): A Haiku Perspective 2015 by Annette Rochelle AbenChristmas Landing | Annette Rochelle Aben. Click the image for the story and the great purpose behind her endeavor.  Check out Annette’s books at the Author link above and her Radio Show at the Host link. @YouAreTheExpert

Tessa: The Chase | Writing is my life.

Michael Erb & Company: Lost in Translation | Me and the Boss Poetry. 

Meredith & Martha: Black and White/Cleansed by Meredith and Spiritual Healing/Rascal by Martha | Meredith’s Musings.  @Meredithlbl

Shida: Sight | 876LoveR. @realrebel_r

Steven S. Walsky (Author): Nature Confused | Simplicity Lane.  Click the Author link above to go to Steven’s blog where you will find all the available places for each book. He’s varied.

Greg: Shades of Gray | Potholes in the Road of Life.  @greg_wolford

Clarence: Definitions | PrarieChat.

Dorn Simon-Sinnott: When Daylight Appears | The Writer Behind DornDryad’s Blog.

Ritu: The Same/Cleansing/Glasss | But I Smile Anyway. . @PhantomGiggler

Judy: The final frontier | Edwina’s Episodes. . @EdwinasEpisodes

Willow: Not Quite Right | willowdot21 (An insight to a heart mind and soul.)

Kat: Simply Not … BAA! | like mercury colliding.

Peter Bouchier: Missing | Wherever I lay my pen, that’s my home.

Alice: Masked| Boomerang Zone.  @Vidocq_CC

Jen (JK): TObsidian Eyes/Haunting Echoes/Ghost’s Shroud | The Secret Keeper.  @occultguardian

TJ Paris: Black and White |La vie est trop courte pour boire du mauvais vin.  @Roccoco_a_GoGo

Scott Bailey (AUTHOR): Between the Lines | thehouseofbailey. Mankind Limited by Scott Bailey  As you may notice Scott is an Author, by clicking HERE or the AUTHOR link above you may visit his UK Amazon author page. Click the IMAGE for Amazon.com. 

 

Sue Vincent (Author):  Shadowed | Daily Echo.   Click the Author link for Sue at Amazon and her many books. @SCVincent

jazzytower (PR): Invasion | Thoughts and Entanglements. 

JustMaria: Duality | Doodles and Scribbles.   

Patricia: Played On | A season and a time.

Sandra: Movement | Wild Daffodil.

Lizl: (2 Links) Evening Breezes | Quilted Poetry. AND Partly Cloudy

Janice: Truth/Melancholy/Black Mark | Ontheland.   @ontheland1

denis: been fishing | Haiku hound. 

Al: The Dance  | A Certain Point of View. AND  Base Elements @AlistairLane,

Florence: Off Key  | Meanings And Musings.  @FTThum

Sarina Rather | Shining Seeds A Haiku I believe in the vein of the theme this week of so many toward those in need.  @shiningseeds

Carol Campbell: Contrast | WritersDream9.  

Elusive: (2 Links) After I Left You | Elusive Trope.  AND After I Left You Again.

Olga: Heavens Above! | Stuff and what if.

Claudette: Perception | to search and to find.

Christine Randall: Imagination | Christine R (Trying to keep the brain cells alive.)  Also visit her Author site, CJRANDALL.COM.  

Mira: (2 Links) black not white | They, You And Me. AND life | To Wear a Rainbow. @BediMona

Dr. Kottaway: Shades | KO Rural Mad As Hell Blog. Also be sure to visit another post, the problem with angels.

D.B. Mauldin (Author): This and That | mama bear musings.  Check out the Author link for offerings on Amazon and click HERE for the About page links to other online distribution such as Smashwords.

VronLacroix: November fog | Simply shots.

Jane Dougherty (Author): Nature Captures Attention | Jane Dougherty Writes.  Check out Jane’s books on Amazon at the Author link above.

Colleen Chesebro: Love is Golden | Silver Threading.  @ColleenChesebro

Vashti Quiroz-Vega (Author): Black & White | The Writer Next Door.  Check out Vashti on Amazon at the Author link above and you can see her interview by clicking HERE. @VashtiQV

H. M. Goodchild (Author): Three for One | Folksong and Fantasy.  H. M. Goodchild is found on Amazon as Harriet Goodchild, yes, we have another author joining us. Click the Author link above to go to her Amazon Author page. 

Nagrij or (Greg Pierce). (Author): The press | Nagrij Writes the Hits You Never Knew Existed.   You can check out the list of books on Amazon by clicking the Author link above.

Tolulope Sanusi: Monochrome | rubys polaroid.   

Melissa: Movement | The Aran Artisan.  @TheAranArtisan

Becky G: The Memory | Becky G? Oh, that’s me!

E. Rawls (Author):  Found Note/Stealth | Rawls E. Fantasy.  Check out Bleeding Hearts, a collection of short stories, poems, and riddles, at Elizabeth’s Author page on Amazon by clicking the Author link above.  @VChronicles_

Cousin Kathy: Bright not Bland | Becky G? Oh, that’s me!

Nato: MPeace Starts With You | Chasing Life and Finding Dreams.   Visit Michelle Lunato Photography as well. @MichelleLunato

Khor Hui Min: Black or White | Project Prose.  @MinKhor

R. Todd: Black/White | A Flash of Fiction.   @psibrone

Ronovan HesterRonovan Hester is an author, with his debut historical adventure novel Amber Wake: Gabriel Falling due out in December of 2015. He shares his life as an amnesiac and Chronic Pain sufferer through his blog RonovanWrites.WordPress.com. His love of poetry, authors and community through his online world has lead to a growing Weekly Haiku Challenge and the creation of a site dedicated to book reviews, interviews and author resources known as LitWorldInterviews.com.

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

@RonovanWrites

© Copyright-All rights reserved by ronovanwrites.wordpress.com 2015

FRIDAY FICTION with RONOVAN WRITES Prompt Challenge #4

Ronovan Friday Fictions , , , , , , , ,

Friday Fiction with Ronovan Writes Challenge

IF YOU WOULD LIKE COMMENTS ON YOUR WRITING, PLEASE NOTE AT THE END OF YOUR ENTRY THE AREAS YOU WISH FOR THE READER TO COMMENT ON, OR IF YOU WISH FOR AN OVERALL OPINION.

Friday Fiction Tip 3-Active Voice

FRIDAY FICTION with RONOVAN WRITES

With decades of writing behind me and daily learning of how to be a better writer, and by daily, I do mean constant, I wanted to give a way for current friends and future finders of this blog a way to push themselves to improve as well.

Through this challenge my hopes are:

  1. you will find your voice
  2. step out of comfort zones to discover a genre where your talent truly lies
  3. perhaps make connections that will help you become a better writer

DEADLINE IS:

23:59 EST Wednesday. I will then have Thursday to complete reading the entries and compiling the links and such. I do read all entries. You can ask any of my Haiku Challenge family/community members.

I DO ASK THAT YOU:

  • Keep it PG as all ages do follow the blog and may click through and read the entries. (C0ntinue for exceptions.)
  • If you do write a piece of fiction that goes past the PG level, copy the link into the comments of this post and make a note of it being such and give the reasons you think it is, such as violence, sexual content, language/profanity.
  • No violence toward children by adults or predatory aspects toward children. I know you may have two kids have a fight. I get that, but I don’t want gratuitous violence such as glorifying bullying. Also I can see you having a kid kicking some bad guy in the face for some reason. I get it.
  • No sexual assault against anyone.

WHEN YOU HAVE COMPLETED YOUR WORK OF FICTION:

Copy and paste your URL in the comments of the challenge post, or do a ping back to this post. This does not mean you must share a link today, Friday, just because the challenge says Friday in it. It means you must return to this post or ping back to this post.

A ping back is copying and pasting the URL of the challenge post into your post. That lets people know about the challenge, sort of, and is one way to let me know you’ve entered. Just make certain to visit back here to see your ping back is showing. Confused? Click HERE to see how to do a ping back.

If your blog is with WordPress, TAG your post as Friday Fiction with Ronovan Writes and in this way people may find your work in the WP Reader.

IMPORTANT!

For those wishing to participate in the possible FREE eBook Project for Fiction, click HERE for the Challenge Page with information at the bottom along with a form of agreement to fill out.

PROMPT FOR CHALLENGE #4

Flash Fiction this week. Some of you are probably thinking that’s what you’re doing already, and for some that’s correct. Flash fiction is only a few hundred words long, or even under 100 words. What Flash Fiction does is forces you to make your writing tight. Tight writing is removing the fat and leaving the healthy stuff that has energy to it. Fat slows your storytelling down.

Click HERE for STRIPPING for FICTION or HOW TO WRITE FLASH FICTION.

This week write a story of no more than 500 words. If you need an actual story prompt, write about a child’s perspective of an adult situation. For an example, click HERE for Lemon Squares and Stupid Boys, a bit of flash fiction I wrote back in June of 2014 for Writing 101.

Ronovan Hester is an author, with his debut historical adventure novel Amber Wake: Gabriel Falling due out in December of 2015. He shares his life as an amnesiac and Chronic Pain sufferer through his blog RonovanWrites.WordPress.com. His love of poetry, authors and community through his online world has lead to a growing Weekly Haiku Challenge and the creation of a site dedicated to book reviews, interviews and author resources known as LitWorldInterviews.com.

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

@RonovanWrites

© Copyright-All rights reserved by ronovanwrites.wordpress.com 2015

 

Stripping for Fiction.

Ronovan Writing , , , , , , , ,

If you’ve never written Flash Fiction you’re missing out on one of the best tools to achieve what Literary Agents, Editors, and Publishers are looking for, the art of Show Don’t Tell.

How to Write Flash Fiction

A major mistake when writing is to look at word count. We want to write a novel, or at least a novella, but that is where we fall prey to bad writing. I advise you to either turn off the word count on your writing program, or put something over it so you can’t see it. I have mine turned off.

Let the story tell the story until it’s finished. That’s your first draft.

After the first draft is when you begin to cut the fat out and get to the healthy parts of your story. For Flash Fiction, this means your story becomes shorter, tighter. That could mean the same thing for novel length writing as well. There is nothing wrong with writing every single thought you have, every scene you have in your mind during your first draft. You don’t know what might be the best for your final draft.

To write Flash Fiction:

  • Write a scene as you normally would
  • Then strip it down to under 600 words or 300 words, whatever the prompt or your goal is.
  • If you can do this and still convey everything the reader needs to know and feel you have accomplished your mission and saved your Agent/Editor and yourself a lot of work later on.

How do you strip a scene down?

  • Get rid of unneeded adverbs.
    • Adverbs are okay sometimes. However, most of the time they can be done away with.  “The boy casually strolled along the path.” Casually could be okay to use, or you might look at the word strolled and realize it implies a slow pace, a casual pace of walking. Another example might be “The girl abruptly stopped in the street.” The idea is the girl stopped in the street.
    • Very and really are two overused adverbs.
  • Write in an active voice, not passive.
    • An example of an active sentence-The boy shot the ball.
    • The same sentence in passive is-The ball was shot by the boy.
    • Notice you have the noun directing the action instead of the result directing. With the active voice, there are two less words than the passive voice.
    • You can set up your Word program in Microsoft to check for passive voice. To see how, click HERE for
  • Remove unnecessary dialogue tags.
    • If you have a conversation between two people and you have established early on who the people are, you don’t need he said or she said constantly. Keep in mind not to insert the name of the people in conversation early on to establish genders and the like. If you have a long dialogue exchange, I would insert a name in the dialogue or an action including the person’s name to reinforce the order of speakers.
  • Write language not English.
    • When you write conversations, write how people talk. You don’t need to have every person speak properly and according to your spellcheck and grammar check. We don’t all speak that way every moment of our lives, especially with friends.

We think more is better but in reality, it’s what you say and how you say it rather than how much you say that matters. Choose your words wisely. Close your eyes and just begin to type what you see of the scene and then come back and work it.

Ronovan Hester is an author, with his debut historical adventure novel Amber Wake: Gabriel Falling due out in December of 2015. He shares his life as an amnesiac and Chronic Pain sufferer through his blog RonovanWrites.WordPress.com. His love of poetry, authors and community through his online world has lead to a growing Weekly Haiku Challenge and the creation of a site dedicated to book reviews, interviews and author resources known as LitWorldInterviews.com.

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

@RonovanWrites

© Copyright-All rights reserved by Ronovan Hester 2015

Friday Fiction with Ronovan Writes Prompt #3 Entries: THE LINKS

Ronovan Friday Fictions The Writers with The Links , , , , , , , , , , ,

Update! The Free eBook Project will be through Smashwords and/or Amazon. This is an update to include Smashwords. The reason being, Amazon, as far as I can tell at the moment, only offers FREE eBooks all the time as a price match option. Smashwords offers it all the time and a great many ways to download and read, including Kindle. Click HERE for the details.

As we continue with these challenges I’ll find a balance between blurbs and my insanity at reviewing and hopefully bring some entertainment to the table.

The order appearing is the order in which the entry was received.

The Writers with The Links
Fear of Flying
by Kat Myrman (like mercury colliding)
The title gives you a bit of an idea as to the story. Kat shows her writing experience here very well. No passive writing and she keeps the reader engaged. Also, there are no unneeded extras to take away from the story and feeling. Very nice. A MUST READ!

Mile High Club
by Ritu (But I Smile Anyway)
With a title like that, do you need to ask? Yes you do. Go check it out. Ritu and her imagination shining through.

Judy and John-The Flight: Part 3
by Terese Dean Smeigh (Writing is my Life.)
Part Three of the story has an interesting turn of events. I doubt anyone saw this coming.

A safe place
by Jane Dougherty (Jane Dougherty Writes)
An interesting bit of fantasy, of sorts, this week from our author, Jane. Going in a direction few would think, and some may even wonder now what direction that is. I find the leaving of a certain element in the unknown for the individual to discern allows one to learn how one thinks about life and situations.

Number 26
by Clarence Holm (PrairieChat)
Clarence publishes his first ever, shared piece of fiction. A first person account of a situation, the story pulls the reader in through emotional as well as physical detail. I know the disturbing aspects of writing a work like this on the author. Perhaps that’s why I go there so few times these days. A MUST READ!

Chicken
by Melissa Barker-Simpson (Author Blog)
Melissa brings some action with a touch of comedy with her first entry in the Friday Fiction challenge. You can tell there is experience behind the writing of this fast-paced ride. Her fans are loving her return to sharing her short fiction.

Takeoff
by Melinda Kucsera (in medias res)
Melinda manages to incorporate the prompt into her story world nicely. The descriptions of environment are well done and one is almost able to see it all.

Cupid’s Arrow~Take Two
by Michelle Lunato (Chasing Life and Finding Dreams)
Nato’s first entry into the challenge and she gives us a story about first loves reuniting. We see realistic thoughts surrounding the situation, not a fairy tale story.

Take Off
by ShidaTahirah (876LoveR)
Shida flips the point of view this week. Normally we see the feminine side of things, now the masculine comes through. A contemporary and realistic story with a surprise ending.

Memento
by Florence T (Meanings and Musings)
Florence gives a family moment that may be all to real these days. There is almost the taking of a headline and peeking behind it to what happens where the cameras and the reporters don’t reach and don’t seem to care.

Ronovan Hester is an author, with his debut historical adventure novel Amber Wake: Gabriel Falling due out in December of 2015. He shares his life as an amnesiac and Chronic Pain sufferer through his blog RonovanWrites.WordPress.com. His love of poetry, authors and community through his online world has lead to a growing Weekly Haiku Challenge, a new Friday Fiction Writing Prompt Challenge, and the creation of a site dedicated to book reviews, interviews and author resources known as LitWorldInterviews.com. For my own take on the prompt, and my last entry in the Friday Fiction challenges, visit my new site dedicated to fiction writing, WritingsByRonovan and the story UPSIDE DOWN: Part Two-The Flyby.

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@RonovanWrites

 © Copyright-All rights reserved by ronovanwrites.wordpress.com 2015

Eddie Cantor-Slow down and enjoy life.

Ronovan #BeWoW, Quotes , , , , , , , , , , ,

Eddie Cantor Quote about Enjoying Life.“Slow down and enjoy life. It’s not only the scenery you miss by going to fast – you also miss the sense of where you are going and why.” -Eddie Cantor (September 21, 1892-October 10, 1964)

During research for a book I’m writing, I ran across details of a man I knew of, but did not know about. A great many people don’t know the man I’m about to mention. But they know something he’s responsible for. Something I was surprised about.

Eddie Cantor was an entertainer in the first part of the 20th Century. A star above stars. With his own radio show, hit records, and was an actor, dancer, musician, and comedian. And don’t forget, author. His autobiography Take My Life went through multiple printings in the first six months of its release alone.

He was a member of everyone’s family back in during his days. He was that type of a man. Some of you will remember his hit songs.

  • Yes! We Have No Bananas
  • If You Knew Susie
  • How Ya’ Gonna Keep ‘em Down on the Farm

But why I mention him today is something completely unrelated to entertainment. There used to be a newsreel program shown in movie theaters called The March of Time. Eddie Cantor decided to create a campaign to fight polio in America. He called it The March of Dimes. He asked people listening to his radio show to send President Franklin D. Roosevelt, a polio sufferer, dimes at the White House. 2,680,000 dimes later in 1939 the first March of Dimes was a success. $268,000 in 1939 would now be $4,370,112.22 today.

Eddie Cantor Quote about Success“It takes 20 years to make an overnight success.”

For more Writer’s Quote Wednesday posts, visit Colleen Chesebro’s bewow-network-badgeSilverThreading  post for this week by clicking HERE. This is also for my #BeWoW campaign of Writers writing positive and encouraging articles each Wednesday. Links of a #BeWoW nature can be shared in the comments below and tweeted with the obvious hashtag.

Ronovan Hester is an author, with his debut historical adventure novel Amber Wake: Gabriel Falling due out in December of 2015. He shares his life as an amnesiac and Chronic Pain sufferer through his blog RonovanWrites.WordPress.com. His love of poetry, authors and community through his online world has lead to a growing Weekly Haiku Challenge and the creation of a site dedicated to book reviews, interviews and author resources known as LitWorldInterviews.com.

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

@RonovanWrites

 © Copyright-All rights reserved by Ronovan Hester 2015

A Facilitator’s Purpose.

Ronovan Writing , , , ,

Although I enjoy writing fiction here on Ronovan Writes, and that is something I intended to do more of, it has come to mind I am not in a position to do as such.

With the creation of the Friday Fiction with Ronovan Writes Challenge, I am now aware of a conflict.

When one is the facilitator of a writing challenge that involves possible feedback to others, including the link/review each week, it may be in the best interest of all concerned for that person to remain a facilitator. (Yes, I know the actual definition of facilitator but the actual use of the word has changed over the decades.)

If a person comments critically about the facilitator’s work, then the facilitator reads the work of the person that commented and finds reasons for pointing out areas of improvement there may be some tensions arise. I am not saying this has occurred, not at all. However, I am aware things could head in that direction with the wrong people involved in the conversation.

The purposes of the Friday Fiction with Ronovan Writes are to:     

  1. Challenge each individual to be creative.
  2. Bend and twist to include scenarios one might not have thought of in a work they have planned.
  3. Take one out of their comfortable writing box.
  4. Improve writing.

To accomplish the above, one needs feedback. I am going to be the one to offer up that feedback. I wish for the community around this challenge to grow to a point where comfort levels are such thoughts are shared without problems occurring, but for the time being, I will give feedback to those participating, unless the author states at the bottom of their work they wish for all to comment about certain areas or overall impressions.

Be careful of what you ask for. Some will be very blunt and direct. Some may be too easy. Others will not be qualified at all to comment and simply want to be negative to anyone trying to do something.

I see each story as separate from everyone else.

  1. Is the story idea itself good?
  2. Is the story passive?
  3. Has the story been edited or proofed?
  4. Is the story engaging?
  5. Is the story entertaining?
  6. Is the writing tight? (By this, I mean no extra words or phrases that are unnecessary and take one out of the story and rhythm.)
  7. Has the writer taken time to craft the piece or did they throw it together and put out to the world?
  8. Does the writer seriously want to achieve improvement and entertainment?

I even copy and paste each story in my own word document to check on the various things I look for. Don’t worry, I don’t save them. I use the same document each time.

Yes, the challenge is supposed to be fun, but it is also to be a way of improving. Each single one of us can improve. If Ernest Hemingway were here now, he would still be improving.

I will still write, but have created a site that will have a link in the menu up top to share my fiction in. The idea of a site dedicated to my creativity is appealing to me. I do hope some of you will click over once it is up and running.

Ronovan Hester is an author, with his debut historical adventure novel Amber Ronovan Hester profile picture.Wake: Gabriel Falling due out in December of 2015. He shares his life as an amnesiac and Chronic Pain sufferer through his blog RonovanWrites.WordPress.com. His love of poetry, authors and community through his online world has lead to a growing Weekly Haiku Challenge and the creation of a site dedicated to book reviews, interviews and author resources known as LitWorldInterviews.com.

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

@RonovanWrites

 © Copyright-All rights reserved by ronovanwrites.wordpress.com 2015

The Flyby.

Ronovan My Friday Fictions , , , , , , , , ,

“Hey, Rob. You with me man?” I focused my attention, a return trip from lost in space.

“Sorry, Phil. Not all here at the moment.” An understatement if ever there was one.

Understanding showed in my friend’s eyes. “No worries. I was only talking about plans for after we land. These conventions are great for connections and a few The Flyby by Ronovan Hesterbook sales but I like hitting a few spots not on the agenda.”

His smile made it evident to me his spots and my spots would not connect to form a picture of Central Park and the historic apartment buildings adjacent. “I plan to tour the city and get a feel for some of the architecture and people, take some notes, get the atmosphere of it all for a book idea I have swirling around in this old brain of mine.”

“Rob, you need to have some fun, and I don’t mean with buildings and tour guides, unless the tour guide is a little blonde.”

Friend is not the right word to describe the affiliation Phil Marks and I have. We both belong to the same writing group in the area. And when traveling, we did so together to have company and sometimes to split costs of rooms and fees. Colleagues, that’s the right word to use.

“Not quite up for that.” I didn’t smile. I was not in the habit of encouraging things I didn’t like. Why placate?

“I get it. It takes time. It took me almost a month after my split before I got back in the game.” Phil turned and focused on the security process of the busiest airport in the world.

He did not get it. It was not about recovering from a divorce, it was my not being a party guy. I liked my quiet time, visiting historic places in the cities I traveled to, and taking my notes for future books that might never happen.

Phil wrote books to get one thing, I wrote to get something else. Those two things were about as far from each other as one could get. You could tell from our books’ topics what those reasons for writing were.

Phil passed through and it was my turn.

~*~

“Mom, we’re fine. You enjoy yourself.”

John hugged me and stepped back. “You take care of your sister, understand?” I attempted a stern look. I failed.

“That’s Uncle Drew’s job. I’ve got a game to focus on, not some princess. Ow!”

“Don’t call me princess!” Lena uncurled her fist and hugged me even tighter than her brother had. “I want a T-shirt, okay?”

“I knew there was something behind the ferocity of the hug.” I smiled and looked at the beautiful girl, almost eye to eye with me. A few more months and I would be the shortest in the family.

“No, but a shirt would be cool.”

“I know, dear. Drew, are you certain these two will not be a trouble?”

My younger brother shook his head. “With my brood, who’s going to notice two more?”

“If this had only been next weekend their father would have them and no imposing on you.” There were still a few sorting pains over the managing of situations such as this. The divorce was going along fine, but the little things still popped up that were new and caused brief headaches. Precedents could not be set to undermine the plans put in place. This weekend was my responsibility.

“Just go. You’ll miss your flight.”

Drew and I hugged the quick hug of adult siblings, and with a smile and wave, I turned, pulled my bag behind me, and joined the queue for the security check. My mind went to the sites I wanted to see after landing. Traveling alone had its advantages. There would be no biggest whatever store in the world for me.

I looked up and caught the security people looking at me. Great, I was going to get extra attention, again. And then there were the disadvantages.

~*~

“Mind me taking the window?” Phil sat and stared through the small glass panel.

“No, I’ll most likely take a nap.”

“Awesome, thanks.”

They do not make planes with people my height in mind. Not even seated yet, my knees hinted at not being able to stretch when needed. I glanced up to the other passengers making their way to their seats. Now that, is the height I would like to be for flights.

Dark hair swirled around and I could see the woman’s face. Pretty. I’m glad Phil was looking out the window, I knew what he would say, and I did not want to hear it. She was classy looking, intelligent. Phil would spoil it with some vulgar suggestions.

She glanced up before turning to sit down. A weird feeling went through me.

~*~

Do I know him? He has that look on his face as if he knows me. Something about him is familiar. But I’m mistaken for someone people know all the time. So many Americans cannot tell the difference from one Asian nation to the next. But he does look familiar.

~*~

This is going to drive me insane. Where do I know her from? The headache was beginning. It would be a migraine before New York. Why couldn’t I let mysteries stay mysteries?

My entry for the Friday Fiction with Ronovan Writes Prompt Challenge. Also a continuation of a story begun last week in The Library Date. Also visit Using Proofing To Help Your Fiction Diction & More! for some tips in regards to tools to assist you in improving your writing.

Ronovan Hester is an author, with his debut historical adventure novel Amber Wake: Gabriel Falling due out in December of 2015. He shares his life as an amnesiac and Chronic Pain sufferer through his blog RonovanWrites.WordPress.com. His love of poetry, authors and community through his online world has lead to a growing Weekly Haiku Challenge , a Weekly Fiction Prompt Challenge, and the creation of a site dedicated to book reviews, interviews and author resources known as LitWorldInterviews.com.

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

@RonovanWrites

 © Copyright-All rights reserved by ronovanwrites.wordpress.com 2015

RonovanWrites #Weekly #Haiku #Poetry Prompt #Challenge #73 Black&White

Ronovan Haiku Prompt Challenge , , , , , , , , , ,

Are you interested in having your Haiku entry included in our FREE eBook Project? Click HERE to find out more.

Check out Guidelines 2 and 3 for something new added. But nothing that changes anything.

MAKE SURE TO VISIT THE NEW WEEKLY FRIDAY FICTION with RONOVAN WRITES Challenge #3 By clicking HERE!

Ronovan Writes Haiku Challenge

Challenge #73

The Guidelines are simple.

  1. Take the two words and write a Haiku. I use Haiku in English as my style, which is 5 syllables for the first line, 7 for the second, and 5 for the third, but you can use what you like. For syllable help visit HowManySyllables.com.
  2. Or you can use the 3/5/3 style instead of 5/7/5.
  3. What to do a little bit more with your Haiku? Read Haiku, Tanka, and Haibun. It’s all poetry to me. Learn the difference.
  4. The two words can be used as you like. Words have different definitions and you can use the definitions you like. You can even use a synonym word as long as it does not change the meaning. Go to Thesaurus.com for Synonym help.
  5. Copy the link of your finished haiku URL  in a comment so we can all go and visit your site to see what you have done. I will comment on your site. You can do a ping back. What’s a ping back? Put a link back to this prompt page, if you like within your post, as long as it does not take away from your haiku. This is simply a prompt and challenge to encourage people to try Haiku and give some a prompt and a place to share in comments so we can find each other. A link in your post does give others a chance to find us and join in. Use one of the two below if you like. Click HERE for a detailed article on Ping Backs.
  6. Ping back Link https://ronovanwrites.wordpress.com/2015/11/30/ronovanwrites-weekly-haiku-poetry-prompt-challenge-73-blackwhite/
  7. Non Ping back Link https://ronovanwrites.wordpress.com/category/haiku-prompt-challenge/
  8. You may copy one of the badges/images appearing in this post below or above and place it on your site if you wish, most normally use it within their post. I am not saying you need to, but if you would like to do so then go ahead. It is simply my way of saying thank you for participating. I sometimes make custom images for the week, if time and health permits.
  9. The Challenge is currently posted at 8 AM New York City time on Mondays to give people a better chance than the old 9 AM time.
  10. Deadline is Noon New York City time on the Sunday following the Challenge Post release.

 ronovan-writes-haiku-challenge-shadow

The Challenge Words!

Black & White

Not sure how to write a Haiku? Click HERE for a quick How to write Haiku Poem in English Form.

Much Respect-Much Love

Ronovan

Ronovan Hester is an author, with his debut historical adventure novel Amber Wake: Gabriel Falling due out in December of 2015. He shares his life as an amnesiac and Chronic Pain sufferer through his blog RonovanWrites.WordPress.com. His love of poetry, authors and community through his online world has lead to a growing Weekly Haiku Challenge and the creation of a site dedicated to book reviews, interviews and author resources known as LitWorldInterviews.com.

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

@RonovanWrites

 © Copyright-All rights reserved by ronovanwrites.wordpress.com 2015

 

Moonlight Night by @itsPHTweet

Ronovan Haiku , , ,

Ah, Romance from Prakash. Click through and like on his Blog. @itsPHTweet

Its Ph Blog

Prakash Hegade's avatarIts PH

ronovan-writes-haiku-challenge-shadow

This post is written for Challenge Number 73. The task is to write a Haiku on the words Black and White.

black sky and white moon,
you and me on the sea shore,
life is colorful.

Syllables Per Line: 5 7 5

View original post

Shades of the Rainbow by @LadyQuixote

Ronovan Haiku , , ,

From a brand new follower in our comment section of the Haiku Challenge.

Linda Lee of Heal My Complex PTSD

Truth in black and white
Belies the lies shades of gray
Over the rainbow

Linda Lee

RonovanWrites 72nd #Weekly #Haiku #Poetry Challenge Review

Ronovan Haiku Poetry Challenge Reviews , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Before we begin, make certain to visit each person you haven’t already. Not sure who you visited? It doesn’t take but a few seconds to click and find out. The links open in a new window, unless you have your device set up for one window only. Opening in a new window means you don’t have to find where you were when completed reading of a Haiku.

Some of you may wonder why I don’t comment all the time on your Haiku posts. Sometimes I would end up saying the same thing twice, therefore I keep the comments for the review.

Also, some ping backs aren’t working properly. I believe WordPress has some issues or it might be an ISP thing where at the time of publishing a post there is an update or delay and the ping back isn’t delivered. It works on the post site, but doesn’t reach the Challenge post. I do go and check various sites at times and find some each week that didn’t make it over. Please double check your ping back arrives in order that I don’t miss including you, and others don’t miss out on visiting you.

70 Haiku-50 Poets-1 Review

Ronovan Writes Haiku Challenge Review 72

New Offenders!

NEW! Scott Bailey (AUTHOR): Giving | thehouseofbailey. A to the point Mankind Limited by Scott BaileyHaiku message for Scott’s first foray into the fray. “Here you will find dreams. Dreams of a family who have been through joy and loss. A family who journey continues. Dreams that we have achieved and some we still strive for. You will find the account of our adoption journey as well as the ramblings of my kids and the things they get up too!” There is much more you NEED to read about by clicking HERE. As you may notice Scott is an Author, by clicking HERE or the AUTHOR link above you may visit his UK Amazon author page. Click the IMAGE for Amazon.com. 

NEW! JustMaria: Carpe Diem | Doodles and Scribbles. Do I really need to give a hint after you read the title of the Haiku? Also a gif from one of my favorite movies of all time is given. “I have no particular genre for this blog on mind. I just want to share pieces of me– things that I love, random thoughts that I have, and everything in between.” More by clicking HERE.  

First to Offend this Week!

Annette Rochelle Aben (Best Selling Author, Radio Show Host): A Haiku Perspective 2015 by Annette Rochelle AbenThe Excitement! | Annette Rochelle Aben. Annette shares part of her philosophy of positive thinking in three lines. Click the image for the story and the great purpose behind her endeavor.  Check out Annette’s books at the Author link above and her Radio Show at the Host link. @YouAreTheExpert

Mira: (2 Links) complete | They, You And Me. Love and life in continuance and stages/phases. in the moment | To Wear a Rainbow.  Very good message to live by. @BediMona

Dorn Simon-Sinnott: Sudden Raindrops | The Writer Behind DornDryad’s Blog. Nature and human nature at the same time. Interesting choice of words and message.

Michael Erb & Company: Poetry Is | Me and the Boss Poetry. I think all will agree with the message of this one.

jazzytower (PR): Liven Up | Thoughts and Entanglements. A bit of nature, fro certain but then a message to us as well.

poeticfootprints: Life | poeticfootprints. I think the time is up.

Alice: Warning | Boomerang Zone. The Haiku reminds me of a saying that would be familiar to a great many people, created by a legendary comedian currently embattled in a great number of accusations. @Vidocq_CC

Meredith & Martha: Cleft of the Rock/Life Cycle by Meredith and Hope/Cycle by Martha | Meredith’s Musings. Meredith’s first Haiku combined with the image delivers a powerful message I believe in greatly. Her second is a cute one, until you realize what happens after that event. Martha’s two are somewhat tied together if you look at them a certain way. Both of the M&M girls, our Literary Angels, bring some of their core to their poetry this week. @Meredithlbl

Ritu: Peace | But I Smile Anyway. I can only … no can’t give away a hint as to what the Haiku is about. You could beetle it out of me and I still wouldn’t tell. @PhantomGiggler

Elusive: The Gift | Elusive Trope. I always enjoy seeing images like this one and the Haiku fits perfectly.

Judy: Fresh Release | Edwina’s Episodes. A nice Haiku, and it’s true, even if that last line may not apply to everyone. @EdwinasEpisodes

Olga: Life Giver | Stuff and what if. I would say a positive look at certain states some look negatively upon.

Clarence: (5 Links) Grace | PrarieChat. An interesting synonym used for life here. Also a great link to click for a Willie Nelson song. Don’t think country. This is more blues/soul than country and fits Nelson’s voice perfectly. The song lyrics are excellent as well, and I think everyone will identify with parts of it. Give it a chance. Night Sky: A nice nature Haiku using the prompt words. Holiday Wishes: A Haiku of this past week’s holiday and the reason for the words chosen for the challenge. Gift 11-28-2015: Hmm, that last line is interesting.

Wendy Anne Darling (Author): Moment in Time | Wendy Anne Darling. A message of not wasting the moment. Check out Wendy’s book Silver Lightning on Amazon at the Author link above.

Sandra: Remember | Wild Daffodil. Somewhat sad. But oddly makes me think of writing a Haiku. The space is limited to use thus the words are limited as well.

J Lapis:   Blessed Life of Abundant Giver | DarkLight Harbor. A Haiku telling how things should be with a result most would wish for. It’s the only way.

Willow: Haiku One Haiku Two | willowdot21 (An insight to a heart mind and soul.) I need to think about these prompt words with broader vision. With Haiku you look for opposite meanings in the two sentences. With the two words I put forth this week, I’m seeing a theme developing.

Sue Vincent (Author):  God-mother | Daily Echo. Three Haiku in a story of sorts. And yes, the theme has developed.  Click the Author link for Sue at Amazon and her many books. @SCVincent

TJ Paris: Bamboo Grove-Vietnam |La vie est trop courte pour boire du mauvais vin. Once again TJ has provided a Haiku and Photography of equal benefit for the visitor. And as always, I love the photograph used. A great image I may use in the future for something, with TJ’s permission. @Roccoco_a_GoGo

Khor Hui Min: Challenge of Life | Project Prose. Weird title I came up with but it makes sense in the end. @MinKhor

Lizl: Fire Ants Go To War | Quilted Poetry. Educational and humorous. I wonder what happened to her brother after his smashing performance.

Al: On Love and Death  | Al the Author’s Blog. Al the Proliferate provides SIX Haiku this week. That first one is kind of, um, well, servicing? Not saying where the mind went with that one! Now the others and the first as well, are very well put together and the phrasing has an ease to the tongue and ear. I think you will all enjoy this menagerie. @AlistairLane,

VronLacroix: Loving Heart | Simply shots. I don’t think Vron could have picked a more appropriate image to go with her Haiku. Considering what happens after one of the two ceases to exist, I think the use of eternal makes quite a bit of sense.

Kat: Life Giving Haiku | like mercury colliding. Three Haiku that are so poignant that I find it difficult to even comment. I can’t think of which one would be my favorite. Although that last one strikes home in such a huge way these days it’s difficult not to easily zone in on that one. But those first two are so ironic in nature I keep looking back to them. THREE MUST READS!

Florence: To Thy Self  | Meanings And Musings. I said not long ago I was going to discontinue my humorous comments in regards to Florence’s Haiku. And she’s not giving me any opportunities of doing it. @FTThum

Ronovan Caring is Given | RonovanWrites. Combining an author quote event with my Haiku challenge. The Haiku is about motherhood. Not certain why I’m on that subject so often lately. @RonovanWrites

Janice: Offering’s Embrace | Ontheland. A Tanka about some fowl friends.  @ontheland1

Carol Campbell: Worship | WritersDream9.  A Tanka of interest with great word usage. One I think you will all enjoy.

denis: Charlie | Haiku hound. Everyone go and see this one. I mean read this one and see this one. If you’ve read my article about A Blog Worth Knowing, you’ve heard of Charlie Girl. Well go and see some before and after shots, along with a tribute to her. A MUST!

Greg: Life Given| Potholes in the Road of Life. A message of a need to focus and be give to get.  @greg_wolford

Jane Dougherty (Author): Nature Moves | Jane Dougherty Writes. I chose the title for the two Haiku based on the movement running within the poetry. Check out Jane’s books on Amazon at the Author link above. @MJDougThe Color Red | Writing is my lifeherty33

D.B. Mauldin (Author): Thanksgiving/Mother | mama bear musings. A nice message to us all, and thought shared by me during this week’s challenge. Check out the Author link for offerings on Amazon and click HERE for the About page links to other online distribution such as Smashwords.

Tessa: Reason for Thanks | Writing is my life. Tessa gives probably what many believe is the reason for giving thanks this past week. Although not everyone.

Prakash: Ehh! | Its PH. I think I get this one and if I do then it’s a good one. @itsPHTweet

Jen (JK): Timeout | The Secret Keeper. A peaceful wish. @occultguardian

Ruby Manchanda: All yours | Whispering Thoughts. OOooOOOooO, a bit of devoted romance. One of our Blogger blog friends.

Vashti Quiroz-Vega (Author): Passion in the Garden of Eden | The Writer Next Door. Interestingly enough I know where this particular Haiku is coming from. Read it now and at some point you will say, “Ahhh, that was it.” Check out Vashti on Amazon at the Author link above and you can see her interview by clicking HERE. @VashtiQV

Colleen Chesebro: Crystal Snowflakes | Silver Threading. Check out Colleen’s new view from a new window of her new home. A whole lot different then Florida. And the Haiku does a great job of describing the subject in a different way. @ColleenChesebro

Tolulope Sanusi: Gift of Life | rubys polaroid. Um, not sure exactly if the Haiku is what I am thinking it means but what I’m think it means is one wow of a meaning. If that didn’t make sense, I’m medicated, it’s late, and this one is awesome in its own way.  

Nagrij or (Greg Pierce) yeah, I snooped. (Author): I.D. | Nagrij Writes the Hits You Never Knew Existed.  Now this is an interesting Haiku. Kind of a mystery in three lines.  You can check out the list of books on Amazon by clicking the Author link above.

Becky G: Life Eternal | Becky G? Oh, that’s me! I think the title, combined with a few other Haiku this week will most likely give you a clue to the message.

Marje:  Banana Love/Car of death| Kyrosmagica. This could also be called Squirrelly/King. @Marjorie_Mallon

R. Todd: Dark Side | A Flash of Fiction. Yoda speak.

E. Rawls (Author):  Drops of Life/At Peace | Rawls E. Fantasy. Considering last week’s spooky offering I didn’t know what to expect when seeing the title of Drops of Life, but it turned out safe. The second one, depending on how you define or pronounce that first word used, the Haiku can take on a couple of different meanings. Check out Bleeding Hearts, a collection of short stories, poems, and riddles, at Elizabeth’s Author page on Amazon by clicking the Author link above.  @VChronicles_

Christine Randall: Find the Joy | Christine R (Trying to keep the brain cells alive.)  A great message along with a great photo. The detail on the subject is amazing. Also visit her Author site, CJRANDALL.COM.  

Nato: Melting Heart | Chasing Life and Finding Dreams.  A tale I hope often rings true with many of you.  Visit Michelle Lunato Photography as well. @MichelleLunato

Ronovan HesterRonovan Hester is an author, with his debut historical adventure novel Amber Wake: Gabriel Falling due out in December of 2015. He shares his life as an amnesiac and Chronic Pain sufferer through his blog RonovanWrites.WordPress.com. His love of poetry, authors and community through his online world has lead to a growing Weekly Haiku Challenge and the creation of a site dedicated to book reviews, interviews and author resources known as LitWorldInterviews.com.

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@RonovanWrites

© Copyright-All rights reserved by ronovanwrites.wordpress.com 2015

 

Using Proofing To Help Your Fiction Diction & More!

Ronovan Writing , , , , , , , ,

Recently on LitWorldInterviews.Com, my book review, author interview, and writing/publishing advice site consisting of a dozen team members, all with experience and/or passion in the field of writing and publishing, author Jo Robinson, the Self-Publishing Guru of LWI, pointed out a tool so many of us miss out on because we don’t think about it. Moreover, most of us already have it FREE.

The article is titled Understand the Tools of your Trade. In the article, Jo discusses how to use Microsoft Word to check for typos and formatting issues. She also mentions Mac and Scrivener (I have Scrivener and used it for NaNoWriMo.) users need to be certain to look at their tools to ensure they are receiving all the benefits available. You should click the article link above and check it out for images of where to find the Proofing tools in Word as well as all of her tips regarding its use. She is the Self-Publishing Guru for a reason.

I do want to point out one issue with using Proofing tools.

  • You will have the tools say something is an error, but you will know it is NOT a TRUE error.

I know that sounds strange but what the tool does is one of three things:

  1. Use your existing sentence structure to determine certain rights and wrongs
  2. At other times you are writing in an accepted manner that is not accepted in something like a business letter. Writers often write the way people speak, as they should, but you do NOT want your Proofing tools to say that is okay because sometimes you do NOT mean to write that way.
  3. Proofing will use style to determine proper word usage. I may use don’t or it’s, but Word will not like either. I know they are both used properly. However, I do check the use of ‘it’s’ to make certain I am not misspelling the possessive form, which would be its.

In addition to what Jo offers in her article, I want to mention a few more settings I find useful. I have a bad habit. That habit, for now, is using passive sentences. I’m getting over it, but I’ve admitted my problem and sought help for it. Help I’ve had the whole time.

In Word’s Proofing options, a setting checks for Passive Sentences.

Go to:

File-Options-Proofing-Then, in the main body of the text box look for the area titled ‘Writing Style’-Click the drop down box and select ‘Grammar & Style’-Click Settings.

Grammar and Style for Word Image

A new box has now appeared. There are a great number of boxes to check if you wish. For authors, under the ‘Require’ section, the first one you come to, you need to make a decision about the first option, ‘Comma required before last list item’. Do you want the tool to say this is always to be the way, never to be the way, or don’t check for it at all?

For ‘Punctuation required with quotes’, I selected ‘inside’ because of dialogue. If for some reason, you have an exception, when the tool alerts you, then you may ignore it.

For ‘Spaces required between sentences’, I selected ‘1’. When I first started seriously writing on a computer, I typed the way I learned so many years ago, two spaces between sentences. The problem with that is, printing and computers consider fonts and do the proper spacing for you.

The next two sections are ‘Grammar’ and ‘Style’. You make your decisions here as you wish. However, under ‘Style’ you will find the ‘Passive sentences’ option. Agents and Publishers are not fans of passive writing. They want writing that drives the reader forward.

One great thing I like about this, above and beyond the grammar & style features is the Reading Grade Level of the writing option. You may be surprised to discover the most popular fiction out there, even the top authors, are written for grade levels way below one might expect. Read This Surprising Reading level Analysis Will Change the way You Write by Shane Snow ‘The Content Strategist‘. This article made me feel better about what I was accomplishing with my own writing.

Ronovan Hester is an author, with his debut historical adventure novel Amber Wake: Gabriel Falling due out in December of 2015. He shares his life as an amnesiac and Chronic Pain sufferer through his blog RonovanWrites.WordPress.com. His love of poetry, authors and community through his online world has lead to a growing Weekly Haiku Challenge and the creation of a site dedicated to book reviews, interviews and author resources known as LitWorldInterviews.com.

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@RonovanWrites

© Copyright-All rights reserved by ronovanwrites.wordpress.com 2015

 

 

FRIDAY FICTION with RONOVAN WRITES Prompt Challenge #3

Ronovan Friday Fictions , , , , , , , ,

Friday Fiction with Ronovan Writes Challenge

For those already signed  up for the Free eBook Project, please note Smashwords will likely be the first platform used. I am looking into Amazon’s policies, but I know Smashwords allows eBooks FREE all the time, not just a price matching feature. But if I find Amazon is Free from the beginning, then we may go both routes to allow all our friends a chance to read, not just those with Kindle or Kindle apps for eReading.

IF YOU WOULD LIKE COMMENTS ON YOUR WRITING, PLEASE NOTE AT THE END OF YOUR ENTRY THE AREAS YOU WISH FOR THE READER TO COMMENT ON, OR IF YOU WISH FOR AN OVERALL OPINION.

FRIDAY FICTION with RONOVAN WRITES

With decades of writing behind me and daily learning of how to be a better writer, and by daily, I do mean constant, I wanted to give a way for current friends and future finders of this blog a way to push themselves to improve as well.

Through this challenge my hopes are:

  1. you will find your voice
  2. step out of comfort zones to discover a genre where your talent truly lies
  3. perhaps make connections that will help you become a better writer

DEADLINE IS:

23:59 EST Wednesday. I will then have Thursday to complete reading the entries and compiling the links and such. I do read all entries. You can ask any of my Haiku Challenge family/community members.

I DO ASK THAT YOU:

  • Keep it PG as all ages do follow the blog and may click through and read the entries. (C0ntinue for exceptions.)
  • If you do write a piece of fiction that goes past the PG level, copy the link into the comments of this post and make a note of it being such and give the reasons you think it is, such as violence, sexual content, language/profanity.
  • No violence toward children by adults or predatory aspects toward children. I know you may have two kids have a fight. I get that, but I don’t want gratuitous violence such as glorifying bullying. Also I can see you having a kid kicking some bad guy in the face for some reason. I get it.
  • No sexual assault against anyone.

WHEN YOU HAVE COMPLETED YOUR WORK OF FICTION:

Copy and paste your URL in the comments of the challenge post, or do a ping back to this post. This does not mean you must share a link today, Friday, just because the challenge says Friday in it. It means you must return to this post or ping back to this post.

A ping back is copying and pasting the URL of the challenge post into your post. That lets people know about the challenge, sort of, and is one way to let me know you’ve entered. Just make certain to visit back here to see your ping back is showing. Confused? Click HERE to see how to do a ping back.

If your blog is with WordPress, TAG your post as Friday Fiction with Ronovan Writes and in this way people may find your work in the WP Reader.

IMPORTANT!

It is possible, depending on the success of our challenge and the quality of writing, I may want to publish Anthologies, collections of stories, on Smashwords or Amazon in a FREE e-book format. IF YOU ARE INTERESTED IN ALLOWING YOUR WORK TO BE SHARED IN THIS FASHION CLICK HERE FOR DETAILS and a form to fill out. If you just want to write, enter, and have fun then you don’t need to do anything except write, enter, and have fun. And if you do try out the anthology idea and you change your mind you can always fill out the form and do what it says. It’s explained in that link.

Friday Fiction Tip 2: Proofing

PROMPT FOR CHALLENGE #3

The last two weeks we’ve had words to choose from to use in our works of fiction. This week there is a picture provided. Use that picture as the inspiration for this week’s work. It’s obviously an airplane on a runway. But that’s all I’m saying.

An airplane on a runway, used for inspiration for writing prompt.

Ronovan Hester is an author, with his debut historical adventure novel Amber Wake: Gabriel Falling due out in December of 2015. He shares his life as an amnesiac and Chronic Pain sufferer through his blog RonovanWrites.WordPress.com. His love of poetry, authors and community through his online world has lead to a growing Weekly Haiku Challenge and the creation of a site dedicated to book reviews, interviews and author resources known as LitWorldInterviews.com.

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

@RonovanWrites

© Copyright-All rights reserved by ronovanwrites.wordpress.com 2015

 

Friday Fiction with Ronovan Writes Prompt #2 Entries: THE LINKS

Ronovan Friday Fictions The Writers with The Links , , , , , , , , , , ,

Update! The Free eBook Project will be through Smashwords and/or Amazon. This is an update to include Smashwords. The reason being, Amazon, as far as I can tell at the moment, only offers FREE eBooks all the time as a price match option. Smashwords offers it all the time and a great many ways to download and read, including Kindle. Click HERE for the details.

As we continue with these challenges I’ll find a balance between blurbs and my insanity at reviewing and hopefully bring some entertainment to the table.

The order appearing is the order in which the entry was received.

The Writers with The Links
The Legend of Wolf’s Crossing Lodge
by Kat Myrman (like mercury colliding)
An awesomely spooky story using all six prompt words. Kat creates the perfect atmosphere to help the story go to that next level. All this achieved in a short story. A MUST READ!

The Library Date
by Ronovan Hester (Ronovan Writes)
My entry this week. Love comes and goes in glances and heartbeats. We’ve all been there. I like to say comedy is present from beginning to end, you can decide for yourself, but there is also that uncomfortable awkwardness that makes things painful to watch because you want to tell the main character what to do. Or at least that’s how I feel.

I Thought We Were Forever
by Ritu (But I Smile Anyway)
This is a story about a woman who discovers her husband of so many years is moving on with love without her being included in that part of his life. The how she finds out is very much today. Ritu mentions in the comments the ending somewhat created itself. It’s a surprise ending in a way. At least the woman’s reasoning is surprising to me. GREAT READ!

Judy and John—The Newlyweds
by Teresa Dean Smeigh (Writing is my Life)
Part two of Teresa’s work, although it can stand alone. Judy and John are enjoying a moment as newlyweds when disaster strikes.

Staircase to Nowhere
by Melinda Kucsera (in medias res)
This week Melinda shares a scene from an upcoming Kindle eBook. One of her characters comes upon a strange object, well not so much strange as strangely located.

The Cabin
by Michelle (The Journey)
Thanksgiving memories shared in this particular tale. Some legitimate life situations, emotions, and all that comes with them are shared in this Thanksgiving memory filled tale. But don’t think you know anything. Just when you think you know, Michelle throws in a twist.

Movie Night: Part Two
by Greg (Potholes in the Road of Life)
Greg continues his story, although it can be a stand alone piece, with this quick read about how one young woman handles her man being far from home. And she does it in a most constructive way. At least I think so.

Laila’s Brother
by Alka Girdhar (Magnanimous Words)
An almost behind the scenes look at the headlines of today. I’ve often thought of something like this. What goes through the mind of a mother when she sees her adult son in the headlines and on the news around the world? GREAT READ!

What a Mess
by Shida Tahirah (876LoveR)
A cozy time is had by Shida’s two characters in the story. But if you focus on the end you miss what is being said throughout. There is some social commentary in this one and we get how people react to things in today’s world. Even if today’s world in the story is in 2017. And no, it’s not a Science Fiction Futuristic piece.

Dust Devil: the whole story
by Jane Dougherty (Jane Dougherty Writes)
Jane brings science fiction to the challenge this week. I know Jane’s writing through the retelling of Irish legends in a book I reviewed and then had the pleasure of her answering a few questions for an interview. This work is a complete surprise in genre. MUST READ!

To live another day
by Florence T (Meanings and Musings)
An interesting piece in first person voice. I wonder if the speaker is insane, honest, or perhaps both. A surprise of an ending and in truth a surprise of a story. Very Nice.

Ronovan Hester is an author, with his debut historical adventure novel Amber Wake: Gabriel Falling due out in December of 2015. He shares his life as an amnesiac and Chronic Pain sufferer through his blog RonovanWrites.WordPress.com. His love of poetry, authors and community through his online world has lead to a growing Weekly Haiku Challenge and the creation of a site dedicated to book reviews, interviews and author resources known as LitWorldInterviews.com.

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

@RonovanWrites

 © Copyright-All rights reserved by ronovanwrites.wordpress.com 2015

 

The Beheld

Ronovan #BeWoW, Haiku , , , , , ,

Ronovan Hester Quote-Beauty in the Heart of the Beheld.

“Beauty lies not in the eye of the beholder, but is instead in the heart of the beheld.”~Ronovan Hester

 

Alligator and babies with Haiku poemI hadn’t intended to combine any challenges this week, nor in fact participate. With it being a holiday week here in the US, and the boy “B” home for much of it, I didn’t think it would be possible. However, when I woke this morning a phrase came to my mind, the one I am using as my Writer’s Quote Wednesday participation, if there is one this week, what with the holiday and all. Although my first thought was not of the animal world, I eventually made my way in that direction and through my photoshop painting came up with the above from a photo I found online. To get the blended and brush stroke qualities, not so evident here, there is a blend tool to use. Lay down several colors in an area and then use the tool and slide over the area. The colors will blur and blend as though you mixed paints.

The poem and image are contributions to my Haiku Challenge this week, and in part to #BeWoW if people wish to link back to here for that purpose as my son will be home tomorrow and I’m certain I will have little time for doing things other than hopefully watching some old holiday movies and maybe eating popcorn.

 

Ronovan Hester is an author, with his debut historical adventure novel Amber Wake: Gabriel Falling due out in December of 2015. He shares his life as an amnesiac and Chronic Pain sufferer through his blog RonovanWrites.WordPress.com. His love of poetry, authors and community through his online world has lead to a growing Weekly Haiku Challenge and the creation of a site dedicated to book reviews, interviews and author resources known as LitWorldInterviews.com.

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

@RonovanWrites

 © Copyright-All rights reserved by ronovanwrites.wordpress.com 2015