Valerie Ormond's Thoughts On …

Writing Tips from Valerie Ormond

Author: valerieormond

  • A Fellow Blogger’s Useful Tips

    A Fellow Blogger’s Useful Tips

    Reblog – Lessons Learned From 5 Years Of Blogging – K.M. Allan (kmallan.com)

  • The Power of Writing Prompts

    I love writing prompts because they both force me and free me to create stories or poems I may not have otherwise considered. The “freewriting” nature of most prompt exercises tames my inner editor. I’m also usually thinking no one will ever read what I’m writing, so I stretch my writing muscle and imagination. Due to the short timeframe for most writing prompt requirements, I usually look back at the rough draft of the finished product and consider the outcome as time well spent.

    Ten years ago, I participated in about a fun contest at Writing.com. The 15 for 15 Contest challenged writers to respond to writing prompts (photos) for 15 straight days writing for no more than 15 minutes each day. Per Writing.com:

    This contest is for writers
    who may only have a little
    time on their hands
    but a lot of creative ideas
    bubbling around in their heads.

     All you will need is 15 minutes a day for 15 days

    I highly recommend these types of activities and contests for writers because it forces pen to paper or fingers to keyboard. Below is an example of one of those writing prompt responses that I would have never just sat down and wrote. It ended up being a runner-up in that day’s contest! Responding to prompts makes writers think beyond what they may normally write without judging themselves (as much).

    Planets

    “I love you to Pluto and back!” Jason said lovingly, while on one knee grinning ear to ear and looking into Natalie’s eyes.

    “It’s to the Moon and back, goofball.”

    “No, it’s not. Pluto is far further than the Moon, and I love you more than the simple distance to the Moon.”

    Natalie couldn’t help but love this man. The past nine months she’d learned more about love than she had in the thirty years before. Jason, unafraid of his feelings, and unafraid of commitment and attachment. She’d never met anyone like him.

    “Where are you?’ he asked, sensing she had wandered off to another place, which she seemed to do quite often.

    “I’m right here, my love, just lost in thoughts. I haven’t gone anywhere; I’m still with you.”

    “Good, because I was thinking we should go grab a blanket and sit outside in this crisp air and stargaze for a while. Then I can show you how far Pluto is, so you’ll see how much I love you.”

    Natalie cooed, “I can’t think of a better way to spend our nine-month anniversary.”

    “Nine months? I thought it was nine days?” Jason smiled again, gazing at her mouth this time, and seemed expectant of an answer.

    “Nine months, nine days – who’s counting? I’ll get the blanket and lead the way to the best spot on the hill.”

    As they settled in together lying on their backs, bodies warm, close, and sharing heartbeats, he whispered in her ear, “Please tell me what you see.”

    “I see the man I want to spend the rest of my life with, Jason.”

    “I meant what do you see in the sky. But I do like your answer better.”

    On the nine-month anniversary since their first date, Jason committed to marry Natalie and take care of her for the rest of her life. And Natalie committed to loving a man forever who had no sight, but a heart that was out of this world.

    —

    Unfortunately, Writing.com no longer runs the 15 for 15 contest, but for anyone interested, here is Writing.com’s prompts link: Writing Prompts, Creative Writing Prompts, Prompts for Writers – Writing.Com. Set your timer for 15 minutes a day for 15 straight days and surprise yourself. If anyone has writing prompt thoughts or suggestions, please leave a comment!

  • Buy a Horse Book Day!

    Help me in celebrating a new holiday, Buy a Horse Book Day! Trafalgar Square Books, the leading publisher of equestrian books and DVDs, and Heels Down Spark, the daily equestrian newsletter, joined forces this year to declare May 10 “Buy a Horse Book Day.” As a horse book author and publisher, I was invited to participate.

    Looking for recommendations? Here are a few.

    1. Valerie Ormond’s Horse Book Reviews

    2. The Shepherd.com’s recommendations: 

    3. I’m submitting my five recommendations for the Shepherd.com this month and recommending these horse book authors and their books:

    I hope you enjoy the day and might find a new horse story to read! @HorseandRiderBooks and @HeelsDownMag #BuyAHorseBookDay

  • Ideas for Naming Characters

    Ideas for Naming Characters

    AutoCrit hosted a webinar yesterday about naming book characters. Here is a summary of methods and ideas to consider recommended by the lively hosts, Daniel and Gareth, and the audience of sixty active writers.

    1. The Origin Story

    • Ask yourself where were your characters born? Where did they come from? When did or do they live?
    • Today, it’s easy to search on the internet for what names were popular at certain times and to see what baby names were popular or still are.
    • Attendees said they used physical phone books, surfed the internet for old yearbooks for names and nicknames of the period, and checked cemeteries and obituaries for ideas.

    2. First Sound or Letter

    • Harsher consonants, for example, K and T, tend to work well with harsher characters.
    • Be careful not to have too many characters with similar sounding names because it may confuse readers.
    • Alliteration works but look up names and meanings for characters to make sure it all makes sense.

    3. Baked-In Allegory

    • Find words that fit like in the Harry Potter series, “Valdemort.” In French, mort means death which builds in a villainous thought.
    • The baked-in allegory can work the other way, too, for example, giving a character a name that makes the audience think he or she is going to be doomed. But then that turns out not to be the case.
    • Think of names reminiscent of other known heroes, heroines, and/or villains.

    4. Clever (Hidden) Rhymes

    • Hannibal Lecter of Hannibal the Cannibal fame (Silence of the Lambs) conjures up an image remembered for years.
    • Sometimes the names can be not-quite-rhymes, but what a last names sound like – be it positive or negative.
    • This method can be a subtle way of linking two concepts because a name sounds like something that the character is not.

    5. Use Tools

    • Check out online name generators and see what sparks you, and then adjust it.
    • Reedsy has one for genre and locations.
    • Daniel recommends Behindthename.com, and after I checked it out, I say the same.

    6. Pay Attention to Rhythm

    • Does the name work as a drumbeat? Read your book out loud and make sure the cadence is right.
    • Consider iambic pentameter with the stress on second syllable since people tend to naturally speak this way in English. There was a reason Shakespeare liked it.
    • Don’t use names people can stumble over and make a story difficult to read. Stephen King discusses this in On Writing too.

    7. Other Thoughts

    • Walk through the telephone book and use a first name from one name and a last name of another.
    • Use names from other cultures to add variety.
    • Look through old movies and movie credits for ideas.
    • Think about the social status of the character and whether he/she should be labeled with wealthy names of the time or names of rulers.
    • If it works, use puns, too, depending on the tone of the story.
    • Remember – it’s about the audience, so make sure it fits.

    Thank you, AutoCrit, for this interesting session, and fellow attendees for your great ideas. Below is the link to the full session. If you have more thoughts to share, please leave a comment!

  • Book Trailers – Yes, or No?

    When I published my first book in 2011, book trailers were all the rage. They were relatively new at the time and came in all shapes and sizes. Then, it seemed they went out of style. I remember hearing, “No one does those anymore.”

    I did my own research and found, as is often the case with “intelligence,” the first report was inaccurate. Book trailers are still alive and well, which didn’t surprise me due to the growth in video popularity across all platforms. Armed with this current marketing news, I set forth to create a trailer for my latest book.

    I share this story with blog readers, many of whom are writers, because I wished I’d read a post like this before I started. I tried a variety of software programs recommended online, but none clicked with my non-tech brain. Then, a writer friend recommended I try Microsoft’s built-in Video Editor program. Why not? So, I headed to my best source for learning things like this, Kevin Stratvert, followed his directions, and created a decent trailer.

    I say “decent” because one of Microsoft Video Editor’s shortcomings is the lack of transitions between video frames. The harsh transitions didn’t work for this project, so I consulted Kevin’s YouTube channel again to watch 5 BEST FREE Video Editors video. I now had small moving images created from my first effort and applied them to the OpenShot video editing program which allowed me to create the needed transitions. Yay!

    I also decided at this point that the free music clip I’d included from the Microsoft Video Editor program wasn’t exactly what I wanted. I purchased a new clip from AudioJungle for a reasonable price, and I was happy with the outcome. I mention this because I’m glad I didn’t settle with what was easier and sort of worked the first time around. Here is the result for the Believing In Horses Out West book trailer. My answer is to the title question is – yes to book trailers.