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character sketch, Revision

Manuscript Revisions

Mona Alvarado Frazier

     It’s been a hard week of conflicting events in my life made a little worse by a flu that has drained me of energy for a few days. Today, though, I pick up the pen and continue with revisions.

     If you’ve ever had a manuscript (MS) returned to you which has more red than black type, more squiggle lines than a snake on crack, and more POV (Point of View) slashes in the column than you can tolerate, then you know–you better know–that you have a long row to hoe. This has been the case for me in earlier drafts of my first manuscript. I’m not ashamed to tell you this, because at least I picked up the hoe. Now I can go two or three pages with any red type and just a couple of “POV” markings in a chapter. Sounds like a lot of work, and it is, but the hard stuff is yet to come. The preceding is just the ‘clean up’ work. I think I’m done with that for half of the MS. I’ll get to the other half when it’s returned to me.

     The real work is in developing “intimacy.” You want readers to care about your characters and understand how they view the world. I’ve heard instructors say you have to be an actor and temporarily be the character in order to understand her/him. One of the best devices I’ve come across, to achieve this, is the character sketch. Here’s one from Writer’s Digest: http://www.writersdigest.com/upload/images/PDF/worksheets.pdf
There are several pages of worksheets to help you develop the characters. After you fill in the blanks you are more ready to ‘be’ the character and act out the scenes.  
A shorter version of the character sketch is here:http://www.writersdigest.com/upload/images/PDF/30Days-Character-Sketch.pdf 
I like this version because it is succinct and can easily be retrieved;everything is on 2 pages. You can whip it out of your folder (you are keeping a folder or binder to keep your notes in, right?-ok, a blog post for another time) and re-read the sketch to determine if the actions are true to character.  
     So this is where I’m at with the MS, in the throes of revision xx (I’m not telling you), with the goal of developing interior monologue to achieve a more intimate relationship between character and reader. I don’t really feel like tackling this right now, since the flu is still hanging on, but I think I’ve achieved something for myself and that is to write everyday and share information. 
    And now is a good time to get my folder out and organize it. When I pulled it out, for character sketch reference above, I found that I titled it “Book Notes.” Too general. So now I must go and dig up another folder for MS 1 and MS 2 or go hijack my kid’s old binders, but before that I need more diet 7up and flu tablets. 
Authors, Folsom Lockdown, Melinda Palacio, oetry, poetry, Strong Women

Folsom Lockdown-Poems by Melinda Palacio

Mona Alvarado Frazier
               Poetry: The spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings~Wordsworth

A few days ago I had the pleasure of hearing Melinda Palacios, poet and author, read several of her poems. She was a guest poet at the Carnegie Museum’s 2011 Arcade Poetry Series. I’m a recent ‘follower’ of her blogs on “La Bloga,” and admire her style of writing. So it was without hesitation that I jumped on the chance to listen to her give a reading in my hometown.

Melinda’s book of poetry, Folsom Lockdown, is the winner of the 2009 Sense of Place Chapbook Award. I love the title of the award “Sense of Place.” Now how did poems which deal with a father being in the second oldest prison in the state achieve a “Sense of Place” award? By being damn good poems is the quick answer. A more thoughtful one is given by Luis J. Rodriguez, “Somehow, we’re all behind bars. And Melinda Palacio’s poems are a welcome reprieve that dares to illustrate how poetry and art are the only real keys to our liberations.”

Once Melinda began reading I was mesmerized by the powerful sound of this petite woman. Her rich voice was full of passion, her hands moved to the imagery created by her words, and she spoke in the vivid voices of the characters in her poems. This was particularly entertaining with the poem “United Steaks.”

Some of the other poems like “Dancing with Zorro’s Ghost, Snake Charmer, Remember Persephone, and Names and Numbers” are wistful, questioning, and often harshly realistic, much like the prison system. All of the poems illustrate the reality of growing up with an often absent father, violence, loneliness, and questions. But the strength of family, acceptance, and maturity are also there, side by side. There is no bitterness in these poems. And that is what allows the depth of her voice to be heard, which is part of their uniqueness and their power.

Melinda’s new work is a novel, Ocotillo Dreams, published by Arizona Press. It will debut in July 2011 and is available for pre-sale on http://www.amazon.com.

Folsom Lockdown is published by Kalupi Press, ISBN: 978-0-9817653-1-0. You can find it on http://www.amazon.com or at her website, http://www.melindapalacio.com