Wednesday, February 3, 2010

Welcome Margie Lawson

Hi, everyone and welcome to my blog. I'm totally honored to have Margie as my guest today. If you've taken any of her classes, you know you're going to learn a lot reading her post today. So get out your highlighters, red pens and notebooks and welcome her.

RHYTHM and CADENCE and BEATS. Oh my!

Lions and tigers and bears. Oh my!

I can see Dorothy, the Scare Crow and the Tin Man skipping down the Yellow Brick Road. The cadence of their sing-song line is similar to the heading for this section.

Rhythm and cadence and beats. Oh my!

Rhythm, cadence, beats--no matter which term you choose--it’s an internal assessment. No real rules apply. You know what sounds right and what sounds wrong.

You only know how it sounds if you read your work out loud. Frequently.

Read the last two paragraphs out loud. How’d they sound?

I could have written:

It is important to pay attention to the rhythm inherent in your written work. You could refer to this rhythm as cadence or a beat. It does not matter which terms you use. Understanding the rhythm of writing is an internal assessment. There are no real rules that the author can apply. You can only tell if the rhythm is right by reading your work out loud. You will know if it sounds wrong.

OKAY – Read that wordy block (above) out loud.

Is there anything pleasing about the way the words and sentences are arranged?

It’s written in a textbook fashion. Bor-ring. Bor-ring. Bor-ring.

What are textbook authors thinking? They often do an excellent job obfuscating what could be interesting information in an obdurate style. And they use words like obfuscate (I’m thinking disguise) and obdurate (I’m thinking unyielding) which increase the snooze factor.

What about my next sentence (from above).

You only know how it sounds if you read your work out loud. Frequently.

That rhythm works for me. Even the sentence frag.

Read your work out loud. Trust your CADENCE EAR. Your cadence ear tells you if you got it right. Your cadence ear will smile.

Ha! Funny image.

Let’s look at what Dwight Swain, TECHNIQUES OF A SELLING AUTHOR, said about sentence structure in 1965.
Yep, that’s when that gem was published and it’s still a winner.

The following is from Swain’s TECHNIQUES OF A SELLING AUTHOR, page 32. It’s three paragraphs.

It demands little genius to recognize that too many short sentences, or long sentences, or simple, or complex, or periodic, or loose or what-have-you sentences are likely to grow tiresome.

The answer, obviously, is to introduce variety—variety of length, form, style, and so on. Many a tired old declarative sentence (He stalked off without a word) has been given a lift via rearrangement of its elements (Without a word, he stalked off) . . . rephrasing (Grim, wordless, he stalked off) . . . addition of some bit of action (Pivoting, he stalked off) . . . or of color (Face a cold mask of menace, he etc.), or the like.

On the other side of the fence, beware variety for variety’s own sake. The moment syntactical acrobatics attract attention to themselves, they also detract from your story; and that’s a sure road to disaster.

SWAIN MADE MY POINT FOR ME. Let’s look at that last sentence again.

The moment syntactical acrobatics attract attention to themselves, they also detract from your story; and that’s a sure road to disaster.

Note: Swain backloaded that sentence with his most important word, disaster.

SYNTACTICAL ACROBATICS. A power phrase for a power concept.

BEWARE of syntactical acrobatics. Any writing that creates a speedbump for the reader, writing that puts a hugs spotlight on the writing and away from the story – creates authorial intrusion by syntactical acrobatics.

Back to Rhythm and Cadence and Beats.

Do you read your work out loud?

How often?

Do you match the rhythm to the scene?

Brandilyn Collins, author of GETTING INTO CHARACTER: Seven Secrets a Novelist Can Learn from Actors, shares important points about sentence rhythms. If you don’t have her how-to book, I strongly recommend getting it.

Here’s one of Brandilyn Collins’s points:

The rhythm of your sentences should match the “beat” of action in your scene.”

It’s MARGIE again. Brandilyn and I share a brain. I agree. :-)

Brandilyn Collins provides these guidelines (pages 147 and 148) on creating rhythm.

1. Past participles (past-tense verbs ending in ‘ing’) are best used in quiet, easy –rhythm scenes. When action or suspense begins, use regular past-tense verbs.

2. Complex sentences work better in quiet rhythm; simple sentences work better for action.

3. In general, the higher the action level, the shorter your sentences should be.

4. In high action sequences, such as fight scenes, divide the action and reaction into separate sentences or short phrases within the same sentence.

Great advice. You’ll find more discussion on these points in GETTING INTO CHARACTER: Seven Secrets a Novelist Can Learn from Actors.

Challenge your Cadence Ear:

Check out the cadence in these excerpts.

Please take a couple of minutes, read them out loud, and consider the cadence.

Jodi Picoult, CHANGE OF HEART:

“Fletcher,” he said, testing the word in his mouth as if it were made of sharp stones.

Powerful cadence – and a powerful dialogue cue too.

Anna Campbell, UNTOUCHED:

I could feel his gaze on me as I walked to my car. It felt like a cape made of light, like the wings of the angels I’d never believed in.

Ah – Fresh writing that brushes your heart.

BLOG GUESTS: It’s your turn!

Analyze the cadence of one of these excerpts (above or below).

What did the author do that made the cadence work?


Harlan Coben, THE WOODS,

I knew they were watching me, studying my responses. I became aware of my steps, my posture, my facial expression. I aimed for neutral and then wondered why I bothered.
Allison Brennan, SPEAK NO EVIL
His heart continued to vibrate between his ears, a loud ringing, and he could hear anything but his internal organs working, working. Heart pumping blood through his veins, his head swelling, filing with certain knowledge that he would be discovered.

Lisa Gardner, HIDE, p. 9:

Matt took me to the movies. I don't remember what was playing. I was aware of his hand on my shoulder, the sweaty feel of my own palms, the hitch to my breath. After the
movies, we went for ice cream. It was raining. He held his coat over my head.
And then, tucked inside his cologne-scented jacket, he gave me my first kiss.
I floated home. Arms wrapped around my waist. Dreamy smile upon my face.
My father greeted me at the front door. Five suitcases loomed behind him.
"I know what you've been doing!" he declared.
"Shhhh," I said, and put a finger to his lips. "Shhhh."
I danced past my stunned father. I drifted into my tiny, windowless room. And for eight hours I lay on my bed and let myself be happy.
I still wonder about Matt Fisher sometimes. Is he married now? Has two-point-two kids?
Does he ever tell stories about the craziest girl he ever knew? Kissed her one night.
Never saw her again.

Sara Gruen , WATER FOR ELEPHANTS, From the Prologue:
That moment, the music screeched to a halt. There was an ungodly collision of brass, reed, and percussion—trombones and piccolos skidded into cacophony, a tuba farted, and the hollow clang of a cymbal wavered out of the big top, over our heads and into oblivion.
Grady froze, crouched over his burger with his pinkies extended and lips spread wide.

SECOND EXCERPT from the prologue of WATER FOR ELEPHANTS:
The concession stand in the center of the tent had been flattened, and in its place was a roiling mass of spots and stripes—of haunches, heels, tails, and claws, all of it roaring, screeching, bellowing, or whinnying. A polar bear towered above it all, slashing blindly with skillet-sized paws. It made contact with a llama and knocked it flat—BOOM. The llama hit the ground, its neck and legs splayed like the five points of a star. Chimps screamed and chattered, swinging on ropes to stay above the cats. A wild-eyed zebra zigzagged too close to a crouching lion, who swiped, missed, and darted away, his belly close to the ground.

BLOG GUESTS:

Please post your ideas regarding rhythm and cadence and beats.

Have you trained your Cadence Ear?

Does your work carry the power of cadence?

Do you work to create cadence that draws the reader deeper into the scene?

I’d love to hear from you!

I’ll respond as time allows during my work day. I’ll be on-line in the evening (Mountain Time).

POST A COMMENT – AND YOU MAY WIN A LECTURE PACKET!

I will draw a name for a Lecture Packet, a $22 value, at 10PM Mountain Time. Winners may choose a Lecture Packet from one of my six on-line courses. Lecture Packets are available for all my courses through Paypal from my website, www.MargieLawson.com.

1. Empowering Characters' Emotions

2. Deep Editing: The EDITS System, Rhetorical Devices, and More
3. Writing Body Language and Dialogue Cues Like a Psychologist
4. Powering Up Body Language in Real Life:
Projecting a Professional Persona When Pitching and Presenting

5. Digging Deep into the EDITS System

6. Defeat Self-Defeating Behaviors
Thank you for being here today. Please keep reading – you’ll learn about cool opportunities for writers!

FYI: BRENDA NOVAK’S DIABETES AUCTION!

NYT Bestseller, Brenda Novak, donates an amazing chunk of her life to fundraising for diabetes research. She selflessly gives months of her energy, creativity, and what would have been writing time, family time, self-time to her DIABETES AUCTION.

For writers – it’s a warm-your-heart win-win. Bid on one of the hundreds of items – support diabetes research and you may win an experience that changes your life. A plotting lunch with an agent or NYT bestseller at a national conference could contribute to a contract for you.

If you're not familiar with this auction -- it's a gold mine for writers!

My husband and I love to support the Diabetes Auction. With over 1000 donations, if I don’t mention them . . . you might miss them.

Yikes – a Missed Opportunity!

Margie’s Donations:

1. A set of six Lecture Packets

2. A 50 page Triple Pass Deep Edit Critique

3. Registration for a Write At Sea Master Class by Marge Lawson on Deep Editing Power, April 4 -8, 2011; donation by Margie Lawson and Julia Hunter

4. A FLYING GETAWAY FOR TWO

You select the destination – any place within 600 nautical miles from Denver.
A weekend, you and a friend, plus my pilot-husband flying our four-seater plane, me, and a two-hour deep editing consult. The consult is on the ground.

5. Registration for an IMMERSION MASTER CLASS session!

A $450 value . . .

The three-day Immersion Master Class sessions are designed as a personalized, hone-your-manuscript experience focusing on deep editing. The sessions are held in Margie’s log home at the top of a mountain west of Denver. Participants will concentrate on transforming their manuscript into a page-turner. The winner may attend a session in the fall of 2010 (depending on availability), or one of the four sessions offered in 2011.

THE DIABETES AUCTION runs from MAY 1ST to MAY 31ST. You can tour the
Diabetes Auction site now. http://brendanovak.auctionanything.com/

Brenda Novak is my hero. What a way to give back.
Margie Lawson —psychotherapist, writer, and international presenter—developed innovative editing systems and deep editing techniques for writers.

Her Deep Editing tools are used by all writers, from newbies to NYT Bestsellers. She teaches writers how to edit for psychological power, how to hook the reader viscerally, how to create a page-turner.

Over four thousand writers have learned Margie’s psychologically-based deep editing material. In the last five years, she presented fifty-four full day Master Classes for writers in the U.S., Canada, Australia, and New Zealand.

Lectures from each of Margie’s on-line courses are offered as Lecture Packets through PayPal from her web site. For more information on courses, lecture packets, master classes, and 3-day Immersion Master Class sessions, visit: www.MargieLawson.com .


Thank you for your time – and thank you again for joining us today!

All smiles…………Margie
www.MargieLawson.com


NEXT WEEK'S BLOG: VALENTINE'S DAY WAYBACK STYLE
Please join me and six other Wayback authors as we share special valentine moments featuring couples from our books on sale at THE WILD ROSE PRESS.

63 comments:

  1. Waving at Margie!!!!
    Hi MOM!!!
    Chris Redding

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  2. Margie, You amaze me at how you can cram so much info and examples in a single blog.
    FANTABULOUS INFO.
    I've read Swain and Collins before, but thank you for reminding me to take their, and your, advise to READ my work ALOUD.
    The power cadence and rhythm and beat bring to the story can't be undervalued.
    Cyberhugs to both Margie and Autumn.
    Lisa Miller

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  3. Hi Margie, Great post, great advice. I'm saving these examples to review.

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  4. Margie, I didn't know you were Chris' mom. Lucky girl. I'm a guest at Chris' blog next Thursday, Feb. 11. We like firemen. WINK

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  5. I often read my work out loud, and it comes out in an English accent! (And not just when I'm writing a Regency.) (And no, I'm not a Brit.) Go figure... I've learned to throw away those darling bits of acrobatics whenever I notice them. That advice about past participles was interesting... hmmm.

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  6. Colleen Shine PhillipsFebruary 3, 2010 at 4:49 AM

    I don't know that I write with such intentionality in my cadence, but I am going to pay more attention. I do read my work out loud and am always amazed when at some point my breath hitches and my heart races. Even when I already know how it is going to come out.
    Thanks you for your clear, specific, and enlightening examples, Margie.
    Colleen Shine Phillips

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  7. Thanks for a great post, Margie! Lots and lots to think about!

    Hearing the daily drone of textbook material being read out loud by third graders made me realize the important of sentence structure variation and word emphasis. What a huge difference when the kids read stories written by reknown authors in their reading textbooks. Wow! Snap!

    Sometimes when I read a great passage like the ones you shared, I have to reread them out loud just for fun! Total geek, huh?

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  8. Now that I've retrieved my voice recorder back from my partner, I will be reading my work aloud and playing it back. Will make the most of this weekends 6 hour drive as I can't read/write in a car but I can certainly listen and scribble notes.

    Love the image of the 'farting tuba'. Will have to read that book.

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  9. Wonderful post! I love that all the examples are equally pleasing, yet completely different. Keep it coming, Margie!

    Melinda Leigh

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  10. Hey Margie!! (waving)

    You're brilliance gleams like a super nova!

    Cher

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  11. What a wonderful post. Your examples were great, Margie! And I'm so glad to see you here at Autumn's blog. I learn so much everytime I read something from you.

    Thanks so much!
    ~D~

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  12. Margie--thanks for the great examples. The parallelism of the Coban piece struck me (my..., my..., my...), and I liked the piece where the prose mirrored the cacophony of instruments. I never thought of a Tuba as farting, and I was in the band forever.

    Thanks for the great food for thought, and now I have another person who supports my read-aloud advice. BTW that works for those academic essays, too.

    Sally

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  13. HELLO EVERYONE!

    GOOD MORNING!

    Thanks for the cool comments. Glad my mini-lecture resonated with you all.

    Wish I could have shared several hundred examples . . . and provided in-depth dissection and analysis.

    Gee, sounds like anatomy and physiology -- and my lectures. :-)

    I'll try to stop by again about noon. I'll definitely be back on the blog this evening.

    Enjoy your day!

    All smiles.........Margie
    www.MargieLawson.com

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  14. Thanks, Margie! I love WATER FOR ELEPHANTS...the sentences are pleasing in terms of cadence all the way through.

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  15. Loved the examples and the reminder to read things aloud. Happy to see that Harlan does what I do (or the other way around:)in not using the word "and" in every instance when you are listing. I often eliminate the "and" for cadence (and emphasis) purposes. Always learn something new from you Margie. Thanks.

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  16. Hi Mar-G,

    Thanks for the informative post. I wish I could channel your expertise when I write. Oh my!

    Love your lectures, your online workshops and I ADORED your Master Immersion Class in snowy Colorado.

    Thanks for changing my writing life--making it SO MUCH BETTER! And Lucky-Charms-rainbow colorful! :)

    Tra-C Mastaler :)

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  17. Hi Margie~

    I just turned in my latest manuscript Yours For the Taking (Yay!) and spent the last two weekends with my critique partners reading it aloud. I have to admit that it sounded much better with a New York accent.

    I love how you always give me something to think about. My head is so full of Mar-G-isms, it's a wonder it doesn't explode.

    Miss you~

    Hugs...Robin :)

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  18. Margie, you're so wonderful at taking something difficult and making it sound so easy and natural and teaching us that with training and guidance it isn't difficult after all. Thanks for all you do! Have taken the edits course and loved it. Like everyone else says, it really changes your writing forever!

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  19. Wonderful post! Just at the right time too. I'm entering the world of revision. Even though I've sat in on your seminar and taken an online course from you, it has been awhile so this is a great reminder. You're brilliant! Yes, you are. :)

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  20. Fantastic post. I really loved the example given from Lisa Gardner's Hide.

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  21. What's so interesting about this is that it's the exact opposite of what most of us learn in school. Never write in fragments. I tried writing exactly as I'd been taught by the English courses I took in high school and then college.
    I ended up writing like I'd undergone a Pygmalion speech transformation. It was my words-proper prose-on the paper but none of myself. No heart. So busy getting it right, it was wrong. So I chucked all the rules and just wrote.

    Sonya Weiss

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  22. Wow, I love this, Marge. Such inspiration. Hsve not read my manuscript aloud THIS WEEK. Now to do it. Those Latinate words are killers; Anglo-Saxon words are the way to go - chop, slice, dice, stab. And, rhythm, cadence and beats, Oh my! Thank you!

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  23. Fabulous examples, starting with the one you wrote in Margie style, then rewrote textbook style. Huge difference! I think I head the cadence as I write, but I should read aloud more often. From now on, I will.

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  24. As always I loved your post. I officially finished my first Margie-ized ms last week and turned it into my editor. Am looking forward to what she thinks almost as much as I am looking forward to your 3 day class in May. :)

    Your lectures make my brain hurt, but my stories thank you.

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  25. Margie,
    Wow, great mini-class. I rewrote a paragraph from my current ms using your examples from Brandilyn Collins' book. What a difference it made when I read it back again. Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU! Deb L. Bonogofsky w/a Loree Mallory

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  26. What an amazing amount of information!
    I'm gonna take one of Margie's classes as soon as I can afford it. I never thought about writing in this way. Cool!

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  27. Hey, Marge and Autumn and a bunch of familiar folks. I love the thing about cadences of speech and situations. I tend to write Southern. Southerners know we think and behave differently from the people from other areas.

    I don't always read out loud because I always hear the words in my head. When I'm really into a book, I adopt the speech patterns and accents of the characters.

    Loved the post and even some of the fragments in the examples.

    Grammer pain in the ass Mary

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  28. Margie, you are a master teacher. What a fabulous blog. You really get it. :-) Thanks for all you do.

    And thanks for the FABULOUS donations to my online auction for diabetes research. We're shooting for the $1 million mark. With great people like you on board, I know we'll make it.

    Happy writing, everyone!

    Brenda Novak

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  29. Such excellent points about rhythm and cadence! Thank you, Margie & Autumn!

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  30. Hi, Margie! What a great post!

    I often read my work out loud...and I believe you might have been the one who made the cadence light bulb come on over my head!

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  31. Hi Margie, always love your lectures. They've helped me so much. Amazing how much info was condensed in Autumn's blog. Thanks for visiting. Water For Elephants is one of my favorite books:)

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  32. Wonderful lecture and your examples always hit home. I particularly loved the Lisa Gardner example. "Kissed her one night. Never saw her again." Strong message in just a few words.
    Thanks, Margie. Awesome as always.

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  33. Margie,

    As always I learn so much from your blog posts! I was in academia for a long time, so reading your example reminded me of what not to do in my fiction writing! I'll also try reading my work aloud and see what I discover. Thanks, too, for the great examples!

    All the best,
    Laurie P.

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  34. Barbara Rae RobinsonFebruary 3, 2010 at 1:47 PM

    Hi, Margie! I've now started reading my work aloud every day. What a difference it has been making.

    Barb

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  35. Margie,
    Thanks for the mini-lesson. I'll be sure to grab the books you mentioned. I'm sorry that I'm going to miss your class for MORWA in April.

    Lynn C.

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  36. Margie-thank you soooo much for blogging about this. My good friend, Misa, just told me to read my manuscript out loud. I did and so much has come from it! It's amazing how I thought everyone could read my thoughts on paper, when it really didn't make sense...

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  37. Great mini-class, Margie. I have to admit that I never read my work out loud. I will start doing that for all of them now.

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  38. Hi Margie!

    What a wonderful post!! I have the urge to run to the bookstore to pick up Brandilyn Collin's book. :)

    All of the examples were amazing, but the one I loved best was the first excerpt from Water for Elephants. The word choice (screeched, cacophony, clang, skidded)and the clever use of the hyphen bring it all together. I can absolutely *hear* that most horrific band. :)

    Thanks as always for the enlightenment!
    Julie Breese

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  39. Great lesson on an often overlooked topic.

    More writers should be aware of rhythm and the sounds of words. A background in poetry has helped me.

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  40. Thanks for the awesome post, Margie! I'm aware of rhythm when I write, but you've given some great pointers to help make even better use of the technique.

    Best,

    Barbara
    www.barbarawhitedaille.com

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  41. Hi, Margie:

    Most of the time, I read my stories for 'flow' and get my poor husband to listen after that. Many times, I catch the speedbumps. Other times, well...
    Thanks for the lightbulb moment. :)

    AJ: Great Blog Site

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  42. Thanks, Margie! Another empty brain cell has been filled with writing wisdom. I experimented with a new time management strategy today (based on circuit training they do at the club). I was at a 15 minute Power Punch station (in my head)and read the blog. My next "station" was 30 minutes of writing. So, I read my recent work aloud. I set Gracie (my inner editor) free to correct and ended up fixing what I'd done wrong and I wrote another page at that station. Unfortunately, the next station was 30 minutes with Turbo Tax. Sluggish left brain dragged right brain with it. I finally got some balance today: taxes nearly done, new copy written, edits made, kitchen cleaned, desk reorganized, and I circuits yet to do. I may be onto something with this circuit thing. Thanks for all of your sage counsel, oh wise and wonderful one. Thanks to you, too, Autumn for hosting Margie.

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  43. Margie,

    Thank you for such a wonderful lesson! Your examples were very enlightening!

    Thanks again,

    Elizabeth

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  44. Hey, Margie, great article, as always.
    I just wanted to share with you how *I* use reading aloud -- as advice to my ESL students. My theory is that the ear pics up stuff that the inner reader misses. Many English as a second language (or third or more) don't get the cadence of English because their native language differs from ours. Heck, it's always a great way for native English speakers to pick up problems by oversight.

    Anyway, the tool of reading aloud is useful for many problems.

    JanW

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  45. Great blog! Will save this and refer back to it when I rewrite the wip!

    Scarlet

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  46. HELLO EVERYBODY!

    Wow! Thank you, thank you, thank you for taking the time to visit Autumn's blog.

    Great to hear that some of you already read your work out loud. Kudos to you!

    Great to hear that the others are now motivated to read their work out loud. Kudos to you too. :-)

    Writers can learn so much from LISTENING to their work -- from tongue/brain challenges to differentiating character-specific dialogue. Plus -- dozens of other important critique points.

    I hope you all train yourselves to read out loud, listen, rewrite, repeat, repeat, repeat.

    Thanks again for being here!

    Check back at 10PM Mountain Time and find out if you're a WINNER!

    All smiles..........Margie
    www.MargieLawson.com

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  47. HELLO AGAIN!

    Did you all notice Brenda Novak dropped by today?

    So you don't have to skim through all the posts, I'll post it here.

    BUT FIRST -- I want to encourage you to tour her Diabetes Auction several times between now and the auction launch, May 1st.

    Donations from editors and agents and authors will keep being added. You don't want to miss a boost-your-writing-career opportunity!

    Oh -- and I'm including Brenda's whole post . . . even the Brenda-appreciates-me line. it gives me a happy visceral response. :-)

    BRENDA NOVAK WROTE:

    Margie, you are a master teacher. What a fabulous blog. You really get it. :-) Thanks for all you do.

    And thanks for the FABULOUS donations to my online auction for diabetes research. We're shooting for the $1 million mark. With great people like you on board, I know we'll make it.

    Happy writing, everyone!

    Brenda Novak

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  48. Hi Margie, I took your workshop Empowering Characters' Emotions. I am so sensitive to the rythme. Short sentences for action; alternate length; repetitions that almost provide music... Thanks for the great examples.

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  49. Hi, Margie! I'm signed up for your March class. Can't wait! Great post!

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  50. I'm getting excited and I'm not in the running for the packet.

    Thank you everyone for the compliaments on my blog. Please stop by next Wednesday for Valentine's Day Wayback Style. I've read several of the free reads and they're AWESOME! Perfect to get you in the mood for LOVE.

    Also, please, as Margie asked, stop by Brenda's auction. It's a great cause. One dear to my heart. I'll be there again this year with a basket full of goodies. Here's the link.

    http://www.brendanovak.com/auction.shtml

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  51. Great post! I love the cadence lesson. I hear it at times (not usually in my own writing - guess I'll start listening for it) even when I don't read it out loud, just inside my head.

    Thanks again,
    Donna

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  52. Margie, Before you announce your packet winner, I'd like to give a shout out to the contest winner from my release day party for OBSESSED BY WILDFIRE, which I held last week. She stopped by again today. And the winner is...............





    MONA RISK!

    Mona congrats! Please email me at autumnjordon@yahoo.com so I can get your snal mail addie.

    Now, Margie, I have one more contest. The winner will be announced on Feb 14, 2010, but your readers will have to take a peek at my last week's post to see the details. They can still participate. WINK.

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  53. HELLO EVERYONE!

    It's time to announce who wins a Lecture Packet.

    I just drew two names from my big wooden salad bowl. ;-)

    THE TWO WINNERS ARE:

    Elisa Beatty -- and -- Anne Carrole

    ELISA and ANNE:

    Please e-mail me and let me know which of my six Lecture Packets you would like.

    If you are new to my editing material, I recommend that you start with Empowering Characters' Emotions. You can read descriptions of my six courses on my web site.

    www.MargieLawson.com

    Please click on LECTURE PACKETS.

    THANKS TO ALL WHO POSTED!

    I APPRECIATE YOU!

    ALL THE BEST............MARGIE
    www.MargieLawson.com

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  54. Autumn, thank you so much. I am delighted to be your winner. Wishing you many sales for Obsessed by Fire.

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  55. HELLO AUTUMN --

    THANK YOU for inviting me to play on your blog. I would love to come back sometime.

    KUDOS to you on your recent release.

    OBSESSED BY WILDFIRE IS A FABULOUS READ.

    Not surprising . . . since you've taken my deep editing courses. ;-))

    I'm glad I got to be part of your launch!

    I wish you amazing success with your writing career.

    All the best.............Margie

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  56. A Fun FYI from Margie:

    Check out the DARE DEVIL DACHSHUND Contest on my web site!

    www.MargieLawson.com

    You could win one hour of my Deep Editing brain!

    Thanks!

    All smiles..........Margie

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  57. Margie, Thank you, and you will be back! (((HUGS)))

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  58. YIKES! I FORGOT TO MENTION:

    I teach EMPOWERING CHARACTERS' EMOTIONS on line in March. It's one of my deep editing courses. It's the one I recommend people take first.

    To register:

    Go to my web site -- www.MargieLawson.com.

    In the menu on the right, click on SCHEDULE.

    You'll see Empowering Characters'Emotions is offered in March. Click on the course -- and on the next page -- click on PASIC.

    Registration is from the PASIC site.

    THANK YOU!

    Happy Writing -- and Happy Deep Editing!

    All the best..........Margie

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  59. Wow! Just when I thought I couldn't cram any more information into my head aomething clicks and I learn something new. Wow! Margie, you rock!

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  60. I love following your posts, they are so informative.

    I have found reading aloud critical. I've done it all my writing life, and without fail, people respond better to my work when I've done that vs. skipping that step.

    Danielle

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  61. You expressed so eloquently what I recently hoped to convey to fellow writer who had beautifully written sentences, all of them the same length and cadence. Perfect! Thank you.

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  62. Margie,

    When I write, I see a movie. When I read what I write out loud, now I know it has to sound like the score.

    Thanks for that post!

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  63. I just checked back and realized I won a packet! Wow--I never win anything and having taken Margie's Empowering Characters Emotions on line, I know how valuable her packets are. Thanks much to Margie--and to Autumn for having such a special guest.

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