Am I a Creature of Habit?

Grocery shopping – who can relate?

It’s not like we can ignore the need to purchase food products. Whether we shop in big box chains or the corner greengrocer, the majority of us will grocery shop.

But shoppers, like planets aligning around the sun, tend to gravitate to their normal shops.

I visited one of the local grocery stores this weekend – not an unusual occurrence for my weekends – but it wasn’t my ‘normal’ shop.
In the states, grocery chains are huge; one store seemingly much like the next.

EXCEPT

Chains may share a common name, stock basically the same groceries, even offer like discounts, but serious grocery shoppers (I’d be in that category) can attest that differences – small & great – exist among stores within the same chain.
This particular grocery-shopping experience won’t make one of my top ten excursion experiences.

What went wrong?

1) The aisles were T-tiny. That’s Southern for waaay too small. Aisles, especially those in the South, should be wide enough to hold buggy races. And I’m talking lined up side-by-side at the starting gate and racing down the straight away. Yep, that’s the right size.

2) Item signs: those that were visible required 20-15 or maybe 20-10 vision. UNCORRECTED! It was rather like watching baby turkeys in a rainstorm. Everybody looking up, squinting, and bumping into their fellow shoppers. Small signs leads to Road Rage. No really, it’s a scientific fact known by grocery shoppers everywhere.

3) Stocking during peak hours: As a good 80% of the chains are open round the clock or into the wee hours, stocking should NOT take place when loads of hungry, cranky shoppers are crowding too small aisles, looking for products that aren’t listed on any sign. Refer to Road Rage again.









Okay, so why didn’t I just leave and wait to buy groceries later? Why didn’t I go to another, possibly different chain, on down the road? Why didn’t I drive across town to find my ‘normal’ shop?

All good questions.

How, exactly does being a Creature of Habit impact grocery shopping?

How does being a Creature of Habit impact daily life?

And why should you, a fellow Creature of Habit, care?

We are ALL creatures of habit. And those habits personally & profoundly influence our lives.
If you’re a writer, the ‘creature of habit’ rule influences your characters’ lives.

UNDERSTAND THE CONCEPTUAL BASIC (don’t get lost in the lingo – keep reading).
Psychology Today has an interesting take on this behavior. Click the link if you want the entire article or let me tuck it in a nutshell for you.


1) We’re creatures. Seems obvious. But the meaning behind that tidbit is that we have certain physical needs that motivate – or push – behaviors to become automatic.

We’re hungry (NEED); we eat (BEHAVIOR).

Suffice it to say that body actions & reactions govern needs that turn into behaviors.


2) We’re, generally, social creatures. Obscure, but accurate. Most of us crave interactions.

We’re lonely or bored (NEED); we leave our shelter and seek out others like – and sometime not like – us (BEHAVIOR).


**This is simplifying needs & responses, but the point is that ‘needy’ factors govern our lives.**



First - How then do we become creatures of habit?

Simple.

If every daily task required studious thought and tedious attention to the step-by-step process, we’d get little accomplished. Most would be overwhelmed by the thought of beginning one multi-step behavior after another.
Consider your morning routine.
We’ll keep it simple. Take 3 basics:

Morning bathroom ablutions
Dressing for the day
Breakfast preparations


Now, consider how many steps go into each process. If you were required to focus on each step to start your morning, how far would you get into the day? Hence, the habit or habits.

If you’re looking to change a bad habit, understand your existing habits, or work with kids’ habits, read some of these articles:


7 Steps to changing a Bad Habit
Human Beings Examined as Creatures of Habit
Back to School, Back to Routines




Second – Personally, what’s the impact?

The good news is habits keep life moving, keep individuals focused, and allow for goals to be realized.
Exercise – it’s habit. Few start an exercise program because they wake up one day and can’t think of another single thing to entertain. No, it boils down to more essential facts.
1) The doctor orders/warns/threatens (with dire consequences) you do it.
2) A spouse, family member, friend motivates you to do it.
3) A training partner dares – or challenges – you to do it.
Eat healthier – it’s habit. See you know where this is going.
Sleep more . . . study more effectively . . . take play time. WAIT! Really? Folks need to develop the habit to take play time. Yes. Every one of us could name at least one individual who falls into the ‘workaholic’ category.

The bad news is that bad habits are easy to develop. See the above articles. Just like water, folks will take the path of least resistance. That leads to procrastination, lazy behaviors, terrible eating/sleeping/exercising habits, poor work attitudes.
Self-starting, resolve to complete, ability to meet deadlines: all healthy behaviors take a degree of mental toughness and a tenacity to stick to good habits to offset bad ones.

The ugly news is that routines and our ‘creature of habit’ tendencies put as at risk to the unscrupulous types. Broadcasting routines can lead to dangerous results.

Do you jog alone? Always along the same path?
Do you habitually park in the same spot at the grocery store?
Do you or a family member leave the garage door remote in the car at night?
Is your in-car GPS programmed with HOME?
When you leave town, do you check-in via social media while at the airport, bus, or train station?

None of this is to make you paranoid. Well, perhaps a bit. More importantly, it’s to make you aware. While cultivating our creature of habit tendencies is part of life, learning to vary those same behaviors can keep us safe.

Third & finally – as writers, attention to detail MUST be paid to a character’s habits. Understanding the motivation or reasoning behind those habits is crucial, but that discussion is for another blog post.

When developing a character schematic or diagram consider:

1) Which behaviors or habits would be obvious based on:

a. Character’s career (consider the difference between the truck driver and the attorney),
b. Character’s education (consider the difference between one who struggled to obtain a GED as to the silver-spoon ivy-leaguer),
c. Character’s life choices (single to married; activist to hermit; corporate ladder-climber to civil servant).

**Disclaimer** Please don’t leave a response to point out that these life choices may or may not be polar opposites. They weren’t designed to be. Characters’ history, back-story, education, career will all impact behaviors and habits and need to be considered – seriously – when writing.





2) If utilizing suspense, horror, or dramatic elements in a novel, then a careful and detailed analysis must be sketched for any and ALL villains. Without focusing on the layers of the suspense, writers will deprive readers of much needed motivation.

Along Came A Spider by James Paterson is one of the most keen to illustrate this point. Multiple layers of villains, each with their own agenda, and each character onion to be peeled before the ultimate crime can be solved.
















3) Consider how the creature of habit behaviors can be utilized in weaving the suspense or horror element into the plot line. Don’t be afraid to consider the obvious and then tweak it to the unexpected.

Writers, if unsure how this specially plays into a plotline, please read J.D. Robb’s In Death series. As Lt. Eve Dallas, main protagonist and a homicide detective, focuses intensely on the normal routines of murder victims, she whittles down a suspect list until arrowing in on the ‘who-done-it’. Innocent In Death, my current read, refers to ‘creatures of habit’ in the opening Eve Dallas scene. Broad strokes to narrow lines, the use of everyday is vital in building and then solving suspense. If you prefer a more classic read: select Agatha Christie.

Being creatures of habit is UNAVOIDABLE and not a bad thing. Remember, that your life would move at a snail’s pace if not for scads of daily habits. But never forget to vary your routine for safety sake, and if a writer, never forget to layer in the normal to build the suspense.

6 Steps to Editing Like a PROfessional!

Editing is hard work . . . anyone who tells you differently is selling something.

Editing is part of every writer’s job . . . anyone who tells you differently is selling something.

Finding the time, and more importantly, making that time count is how the PROfessionals edit.

Below are 6 editing tricks to enhance your writing.

1) Find your editing groove. For some this is EARLY when eyes are the sharpest and focus is the clearest. For others their peak time might be mid-to-late afternoon. Caffeine kicks in, morning rush dies down and – again, this is about focus – the brain settles into a rhythm.

I caution against late night editing. Eyes are slower for all the image bombardment of the day. Eagle eyes are needed for great editing. If, however, evening is the ONLY quiet time – then read the sentences aloud. That’s the best way to catch what’s actually on the page.

2) Highlight sticking points. One particular sentence seem muddy? Dialogue exchange stilted? Blocking in the scene missing? Think about it. Mull it over. But NOT TOO LONG. Don’t get dragged into the writing whirlpool and expect to rescue every drowning sentence. Highlight the sticking points and then MOVE on.

The solution to the original hiccup may reveal itself a page later . . . two pages later . . . when you’re in the shower. (That’s a biggy for me. My dialogue is suddenly brilliant while I’m in the shower. Ink blots and smudges really can tell a story.)


3) Great editing is about condensing.

A) Don’t be afraid to rip out meandering dialogue. Think about that friend (or relative) who never met a short story. Get to the point. B) Scene setting is necessary; world-building may be a must for your genre. But readers will skip loooooong descriptive passages. Focus on the specific elements that make that particular description important then highlight those aspects. C) Adverbs are NOT a writer’s friend. Use with caution.

4) Enhance chapter hooks. Can you name 3 writers that make it impossible for you to put down their book? Why? Great writing – sure. Good plot – absolutely. Superb characters – goes without saying. But I’d place a bet . . . on chapter hooks. How do you hone that skill?

A) Study the timing your favorite authors employ. B) Study 30-minute TV shows. C) Study YA novella authors.

One of my go-to authors is Gary Paulsen. He started in short serials before moving to YA novels. He wrote for youth at an easily distracted age, yet he kept them turning the pages.

If adverbs should be avoided like the plague, then chapter hooks should be embraced liked antibiotics.


5) During editing pay close attention to easy-to-transpose words.

A) patient vs. patience; B) complied vs. compiled; C) advise vs. advice. D) analyze vs. analysis; E) ever vs. every.

The list can be endless, and even tedious. If you’re unsure on the correct version, highlight the word and check for synonyms. Still confused? Use Dictionary.com or your favorite online word source. I work with double monitors to keep support sources easily accessible.

6) Step six to editing like a PRO is an extension of step five. Be aware of your go-to words. One of my writing redundancies is ‘back’. Step back. Go back. He moved back. Her back. His back. Back off. Back away. Am I backing myself into a corner? Find a word cloud program, even a Plain Jane version in your document program of choice, then analyze a scene or chapter. If you are guilty of lazy repetition, it will leap off the page.

Good news for writers everywhere: Editing like a PROfessional writer is a learned skill.

You don’t expect to be a fabulous writer first rattle out of the box.

As a writer, you’ll create loads of boxes (stories) and each one will require editing (loads of editing).

Add these 6 editing tips to your writer’s arsenal and you will deliver more concise and enjoyable words to page.

Be at BETTER WRITER
AT

How to entice Readers . . . 5 Writing Tips to Building Book Teasers!

Writing the Perfect Phrase -- study the masters!

A Writer's Magic - as close as fingertips!

Harry Potter used a wand. Bewitched twitched her nose. Harry Dresden wielded a staff.
Writers come with their own special form of magic.
Whether it's pen to pad, stylus to tablet, or keyboard to PC . . . a writer's magic is as close as fingertips.

New writers often feel that they must pursue fiction writing as they don't carry a bag of non-fiction writing tricks.

Don't allow the concept of non-fiction writing to intimidate.

Consider the 3 easily defined categories:

Educating: How-to-manuals, directions, historical explanations, or scientific explorations fall into this category.

Influencing or persuasive: Every sales brochure, each editorial, even academic critiques are designed to persuade the reader to a certain conclusion.

Narrative: story-telling, but in the non-fiction circuit it is to be based on facts. Basic journalism to feature writing, and even biographies would fall under the Narrative heading.

Many authors not only cross genres, but modes of writing between fiction and non-fiction. A writing paycheck can come from a variety of sources and it is the wise writer who pursues all opportunities.

But, this is a cautionary tale . . . Fiction and Non-fiction are NOT the same writing beast, and must be courted differently in order to achieve successful results.

Be concise: get to the point. Getting to the point is crucial in non-fiction.

Know the point of your writing and get on with it.
A) There is some leniency in the narrative form, but study news stories – both print and online – to gauge the quick pacing of these pieces.
B) Educational writing varies wildly and while How-To-Manuals and Directions often taken on the bulleted-format, lengthy historical explanations and in-depth scientific explorations must still contain a very specific path from premise to conclusion. Be careful not to lose your way when working on the longer formats. Outlines can be a non-fiction writer’s best friend.
C) Persuasive or influencing: this writing can be as short as a tag line, a book blurb, a closing sales pitch or deal with weighty issues from politics to retirement planning. A clearly defined goal is the most certain way to achieve the end result of the writing.

Language choices: use power words and precision language.

Keeping in line with the Be Concise attitude, force each of your words to carry their weight. Know (and keep a list) of verbs that are effective and reflective on your subject matter. Equally important, know precisely how to describe the product, the ideal, the event.

Pronouns: the NO-NO for non-fiction writing.

Fiction writers often court pronouns like a torrid love affair. They, those tiny pronouns, can essentially disappear on page and not slow reading. HOWEVER, and it is a huge however for non-fiction writing, especially technical and legal writing, pronouns provide opportunities for confusion. The average fiction reader may not mind re-reading a sentence or even a paragraph if lost in a point-of-view. However, a judge reviewing a motion, brief, or filing will take a dim view of that necessity and however, the mechanic handling a brake job doesn’t want to re-read confusing installation directions due to pronouns. See, I told you it was a huge HOWEVER.

Grammar Rules: they are meant to be followed in non-fiction writing.

Fiction authors, novice to NY Times best sellers will routinely break grammar rules. Unfortunately, many novice writers don’t know they have broken the rules, but that discussion is for another blog post. Non-fiction writers must be intimate with books such as The Chicago Manual of Style; Essentials of English Grammar: The Quick Guide to Good English; and Basic English Grammar for Dummies.

Perhaps, you have read through this blog and questioned?????

But . . .

Aren’t these areas equally important for fiction writers?

Caught me.

I will confirm – GOOD WRITING SHOULD BE GOOD WRITING.

Great fiction writers will brain-storm, outline, and plot in order to begin stories at the most exciting moment and conclude with the perfect resolution. They’ll utilize story-boards, Post-it Notes, Trello boards and various techniques to start and end each scene, chapter, and novel with precision.

Great fiction writers will hone their language choices, then eliminate sentences, paragraphs and even scenes that drag the pacing. Their characters will always ask the right question, supply the most scathing rebuttal, and declare unfaltering devotion with a prose to rival Shakespeare.

Pronouns in fiction writing are more acceptable, and can, indeed, speed reading. But ONLY when done well. Great fiction writers pay careful attention to the use of dialogue tags, body blocking, and paragraph construction to guarantee that readers can easily follow along when pronouns are employed. In other words, these marvelous authors utilize precise language to lead the reader through any maze of pronouns.

Finally, fiction readers will forgive the occasional grammar break, but they depend . . . NO, I believe, they demand that their great fiction writers KNOW those rules and break with intent.

It’s worth saying again – GOOD WRITING SHOULD BE GOOD WRITING.

Whether you are starting your blogging career or completing your first manuscript, consider these writing tips to hone your Non-Fiction skills.
.

Snapping Photos?? Breathe LIFE into Writing . . .

I’m old enough that Kodak still means cameras to me. Instant camera was our phrase from the 60s & 70s. Of course, considering today’s technology, it’s ludicrous to think those were instant pictures.

1) First to film – The lucky owned a 35MM, which meant loading the camera was always a treat. Lining it up - perfectly - to catch the leading edge of the film reel (and hoping like crazy that you’d really accomplished that feat so you’d be taking pictures instead of just turning the hand crank). For the novice photo buff, it started with a Kodak Instamatic: a pop-and-click camera.

2) No do-overs -- As you shot the roll of film, it was framed or not. Blurry or not. Too dark, too light, the wrong angle OR not.

3) Film development – Then, budding photographers were off to the photo store to drop the precious roll of film.

4) Pictures – Finally, the film results were returned. Not just moments later, or hours later, but days later, the camera buff could enjoy their photo reward. Oh, and the sleeved negatives were the accompaniment, in case, a second print was required.

Stop & Consider:

How often did that picture actually match the remembered image in your mind?
The memory of the event, the landscape, the adventure?

Even today, with the serious advances in iPhones, Smartphones and photography equipment,
does the captured image provide a mirror testament to the moment?

Why not?

What’s wrong?

Why isn’t that image on our social media, in print, framed and hung on our wall, the perfect recreation?

Because – how ever good the photographer – memories are about more than the two dimensional image.

Memories capture:
1) Sound: sea rushing to shore, a child’s squeal, a seagull’s scream.
2) Smell: briny ocean, clean air, tempting scents of grilling hotdogs, smoke from a beach fire.
3) Feel: cold wind, warmth of the sun, slick of suntan lotion.
4) Taste: salt on the tongue, hotdogs slathered with chili & onions, chilly rocky road ice cream.
5) Sight: waves breaking against impenetrable rocks throwing mist high; sun illuminating a dad teaching his child to swim; clouds building, deepening, darkening, threatening until the brilliance of lightning splits the sky.

The photo can highlight one instant in time, but to truly capture the ‘Kodak’ moment, all senses must be enveloped.

As a writer do you store these memories to access when creating a scene? Building a character’s backstory? Designing real-life dialogue?

Life is more than a snap-shot.
It’s more than 3-D.

Life is meant to be fully dimensional. Writers, then, must create the moments, the experiences and breathe those images onto page.

One of my New Year’s Resolutions – and I commit to these sparingly – to develop pics from my camera phone (QUICKLY) then list one or more sensory memories on the back of the photo. I have several underutilized photo boxes (normally filled with junk I simply haven’t cleaned away – ooh, sounds like another worthy NYR). I don’t want to overcomplicate the process, so I’m planning to file under settings. Then as I write a beach scene, I can thumb through these Kodak memories and relive the experience, that slice of living in the moment.

The goal: no matter how good my sense of ‘senses’ can be during a writing session,

I always want to dig deeper,
bring more to the page,
breathe more LIFE into the writing.

Learn More! Additional writing tips.

How to Entice Readers . . . 5 Writing Tips to Building Book Teasers!

Demystifying graphics for your advertising needs.

Writing It Right with Wordle.net

Breathing new life into an older manuscript brought me back to Wordle.net

WRITERS

Do you want to know your most commonly used words in a chapter?
In a Blog post?
In a letter to your editor?

DIRECTLY FROM THE WORDLE WEBSITE:

'WORDLE is a toy for generating “word clouds” from text that you provide. The clouds give greater prominence to words that appear more frequently in the source text. You can tweak your clouds with different fonts, layouts, and color schemes. The images you create with Wordle are yours to use however you like. You can print them out, or save them to your own desktop to use as you wish.'

Wordle.net is a FREE Service that doesn't demand any Google Chrome EXT additions.

However - WORD ON INSTALLATION - you'll need Java RunTime in order to access Wordle, and you will need to download the 32bit version (actually, shows as X86 on the Java download site, which is old school for 32bit). My laptop is roughly a year old and the Win 10 version on my system is 64bit. Just be aware that you might need to handle this conversion depending on which version of Windows is loaded to your desktop/laptop, and which BIT size as well. If Java is currently downloaded to your system, Wordle should open. Also, there is a Wordle trouble-shooting help guide. I used Internet Explorer - not EDGE - just good ole Explorer to access Wordle, and it worked perfectly. Hopefully, these install tips will ease your Wordle path.

Pssst - any program that demands a Google Chrome EXT should be handled with extreme caution.
Check for reviews or malware alerts on these programs before you complete install and allow the EXT full access.
You might find your browser taken over by the EXT . . . never a good result.

CHASING DESTINY - CHAPTER ONE

Through the Wordle process, my nemesis of 'back' revealed its ugly redundancy,
and I dived into the chapter to obliterate its overuse.

The point of this exercise is to make certain - that you, the author - are fully aware of the most commonly used words, and phrases, in your writing.
Does the Wordle picture reflect the language that should float to the top like wonderful cream?
Or have you fallen into a vocabulary trap where the same tired words appear over and over?

Wordle is a bit of visual creativity to color our written world of black-and-white.

Ready to learn more? Additional writing tips @

Snapping Photos? Here's how to Breath LIFE into your Writing

Learn the Art of a Writer's Magic

Secrets to Writing THE PERFECT PHRASE

Writers need to be voracious observers.

LISTEN carefully.

Read anything, everything.

WATCH behaviors.

Stare at the sky, the horizon, your backyard, the local park, the grocery store, the mall.

Nuggets of WRITING gold can be mined from the most unusual & USUAL places.

I watch America’s Got Talent. Sometimes to prove how out-of-sync that I am with the rest of the population. More often, because I’m continually awed by the gifts of so many.

AGT comedians for the most part – entertain.

The ones that truly earn my out-loud guffaws are those who keep it every day simple, say grocery store adventures.
No, I’m not specifically referring to Wal-Mart shoppers. Those would be an article all of their own.
Remember your last grocery store trip.
Funny stuff happens.

Men, who are perfectly capable of driving on the right – correct side of the road – seem to become lane-confused when in the store. They’re always on the wrong side, or pass incorrectly, or block the aisle, and then are terribly confused when they receive death glares from their female counterparts.

Teenagers, who clearly believe in the grocery stork, are completely lost and will wander aimlessly – and always in your path – when searching for an item.

The woman on her phone – you’ve seen it too – who is so engrossed in her conversation that it’s impossible for her to shop.

AGT Comedians don’t find these encounters aggravating.
Well, maybe they do. But they turn said encounters into comedy.
Laugh-makers, I term them.
The real world with a twist.

As I DVR my select AGT favorites, I often watch these snippets again and again.
Who doesn’t need a laugh pick-me-up after a tough day?

I practice this same repetitive behavior with books.
A familiar book will feed my sanity-starved soul.

Most of us have ‘keeper’ shelves. Some of us are a bit obsessive and mark favorite pages . . . passages . . . the perfect turn of the phrase.

Use that behavior to your writing advantage.

Is the narrative in your current WIP detached? Guilty of telling rather than showing? Borderline boring?

Is your dialogue flat? Uninspired? Wasted page space?

Then start your own page of ‘keeper’ phrases, lines, and great passages.

When I began this exercise, it was with the thought I’d capture a couple of memorable one-liners and then share.

The more I read the talented, the more I find to KEEP.

I’ve listed a few here. If you haven’t read these books, I’d suggest a trip no further than your local bookstore. Any of these titles that are in hardback or paperback, I own the permanent copies.

1) Because writers need to be voracious observers.
2) Because reading makes me happy.
3) Most importantly, great writing hones my craft.

I hope you enjoy my list.

‘It’s for his own good. Odd how the gods and humanity used that so often to justify brutality.’ Sherrilyn Kenyon, UPON THE MIDNIGHT CLEAR.

‘Howard Roark laughed.’ Ayn Rand, THE FOUNTAINHEAD.

'She was the dream he lost at dawn . . . his dream of everything . . .' Suzanne Elizabeth Phillips, THIS HEART OF MINE.

‘Caitlin mustered up all her courage – all one and a half ounces of it – and walked up the stairs. Stopping at the closed door, she risked a side-long glance at Mr. Mountain Man.’ Sayara St. Claire, HURT ME, HEAL ME.