Writing Advice from C.S. Lewis

 

C.S. Lewis is one of my favorite authors and, although I don’t usually read fantasy, I love the Narnia series. As a writer, I especially enjoy the insights from C.S. Lewis Letters to Children, which was compiled by Lyle W. Dorsett and Marjorie Lamp Mead. The following advice is quoted from Lewis’ June 26, 1956 letter to a child named Joan. The numbering, the italics, and the rest of the text are taken directly from the book.

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1.     Always try to use the language so as to make quite clear what you mean and make sure y[ou]r. sentence couldn’t mean anything else.

2.     Always prefer the plain direct word to the long, vague one. Don’t implement promises, but keep them.

3.     Never use abstract nouns when concrete ones will do. If you mean “More people died” don’t say “Mortality rose.”

4.     In writing. Don’t use adjectives which merely tell us how you want us to feel about the thing you are describing. I mean, instead of telling us a thing was “terrible,” describe it so that we’ll be terrified. Don’t say it was “delightful”; make us say “delightful” when we’ve read the description. You see, all those words (horrifying, wonderful, hideous, exquisite) are only like saying to your readers “Please will you do my job for me.”

5.     Don’t use words too big for the subject. Don’t say “infinitely” when you mean “very”; otherwise you’ll have no word left when you want to talk about something really infinite.

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All writers should take this advice to heart. Unfortunately, I fail sometimes because I’ve still got a lot to learn.

But I’m trying.

Location, Location, Location

 

No, I’m not buying a new house, but I did look for a setting for my current writing project, which takes place in England. Unfortunately, it will be a while—if ever—before I get to England again, meaning I couldn’t do my research on site.

As a writer, I cringe whenever a reader tells me that I got something wrong, including facts about the setting. I also don’t want people guessing that a purely fictional character is based on the reader or someone the reader knows, which is more likely to happen if the setting is real. So for this book I created the fictional village of Puedam and a fictional market town called Ressel.

To give the story some connection with reality, however, I chose to set the fictional village in a real English county. Using the internet and a book on English shires, I went looking for the right one.

I had several conditions. First, Puedam couldn’t be near anyplace that Hitler was likely to target with his bombers, which ruled out areas with major manufacturing centers or significant military installations. Second, since all the settings (other than references to London) are fictional, I didn’t want it too close to a real city in case readers would question why my characters never went there. And, while not crucial, I was hoping for an inland farming area.

The winner was Derbyshire in central England. As you can see from the map at the head of this post, the population in the southwest part of the county is relatively sparse and the land is flat enough to support farms. Relatively isn’t really the right term, though. If you look at a larger map, the area is sprinkled with villages, and there are several real cities, including Derby, close enough for shopping. However, it fits my needs as well as or better than anywhere else.

Besides, I’m treading on hallowed ground by following in the footsteps of British authors who created fictional villages and market towns throughout England for their fiction.

__________

The map at the head of this post was downloaded from https://freeworldmaps.net/europe/united-kingdom/derbyshire/.

Quotes and Colour

 

Since I’m currently writing a book in the form of columns for a fictional English newspaper, I should use the grammar and spelling conventions that my protagonist would use. That could confuse my American audience, but it probably won’t since many of us are used to reading books that come “across the pond” (or ‘across the pond’) with the British grammar and spelling intact. The biggest issue is to make sure I catch it all.

As you can see from the graphic at the head of this post, the British use a single quote around dialogue where we use a double one. It does not, however, show the dissimilar placement of commas and periods that come after a quote mark because the example has no difference. The British place the comma or period inside the quote mark if it is part of the quoted material and outside if it is not, while American English always puts commas and periods on the inside. In the following example, the first sentence is American while the second is British.

The British call a period a “full stop.”

The British call a period a ‘full stop’.

The graphic also demonstrates one of many spelling differences. Spelling was the only subject I got Ds in at school. Even so, I had learned how to spell “color.” Then we moved to Scotland for what would have been my 6^th grade year at home, and I had to relearn the spelling as “colour.” It wasn’t the only word I had to relearn, and I hated it, especially knowing that I would have to learn the American spellings all over again when we returned to Michigan.

American grammar conventions are second nature to me, and even American spelling comes more naturally than British spelling does. I simply cannot write the early drafts any other way. Fortunately, Microsoft WORD’s grammar and spell check program has a British version. So if I decide to use British grammar and spelling conventions in my column (and I probably will), I can run that before finalizing the manuscript. That still doesn’t guarantee that I’ll get it all correct, though.

What I’d give for a single form of English.

Two English Languages

 

Actually, there are many more than two English languages. American English is different than British English is different than Australian English, and so on. Even within countries such as the U.S. there are many different dialects. But for this post I’ll limit myself to the more generic American English and British English.

My current work-in-progress takes place in England during World War II. As I mentioned in my last post, I’m writing it in the form of a newspaper column. And since it is written by an English woman for an English newspaper, of course it will use British English.

That creates another challenge that I’m working through.

Some differences between American English and British English are well known, such as the British use of biscuit for what we would call a cookie. But did you know that a railroad is a railway and a thermos is a flask?

I’ve been writing with two dictionaries at hand: The American-British British-American Dictionary for English Speaking People by Jeremy Smith and the 3^rd edition of The UK to USA Dictionary: British English vs. American English by Claudine Dervaes and John Hunter. Every time I’m not sure whether an American term is also used in England, I check those dictionaries. There are two problems with this, however. The first is that I may assume a word is used in England when it is not, in which case I won’t bother to look it up.

The second problem that the dictionaries are written for people who want to understand what they hear or read, not necessarily for writers or educators. So while they are fairly comprehensive, I’m not sure they include everything. If I’m wondering about a term that isn’t in them, I may need to turn elsewhere.

I have been supplementing the dictionaries with a rather unexpected resource. I enjoy the Miss Read books, which take place in England and are written by an English author. (Miss Read is her pen name.) When I wanted to know what a handyman was called in England, I couldn’t find a reference in either of the dictionaries I mentioned above. Although I thought that probably meant that the term handyman is used in British English, I wanted to be as sure as I could be. There is a handyman in a Miss Read book that I recently read on Kindle, so I went into the book and used Kindle’s search function to look for “handyman.” When I found it, I knew I could use that word comfortably. I’ve also used the same resource for several other terms and found it helpful each time.

Still, no matter how hard I try, I’ll probably miss something, and a reader will point out that the British don’t use the American term.

That isn’t the only terminology issue, though. There are times when I may use a uniquely British term when an American one will do, such as using cooker for stove. Still, if I go overboard, I will sound as if I am trying to be British myself or, worse, as if I am mocking the language. So the challenge is to make my character English without overdoing it.

An even bigger challenge comes when I try to write a column that would use British grammar and spelling.

That’s the subject of next week’s blog.

The 1,000-Word Dilemma

 

I’m still dedicated to writing middle-grade historical fiction, but every now and then I like to challenge myself with something different. I have just started a historical novel for adults. No, there is nothing R-rated in it, or anything in fact that is inappropriate for my regular audience. It does, however, have three things that mark it as an adult novel. First, the protagonist is an adult, which is rare (although not unheard of) in children’s books. Second, this one will include a romance (but no sex even offstage). And third, although the vocabulary won’t be complex, some of it may be beyond my normal audience.

Another difference between this book and my previous historical novels is that they have all taken place in the U.S. This one takes place in England during World War II.

The format is also new for me. My protagonist is a newspaper columnist, and I am writing this novel as fifty-two weekly columns.

Since each chapter is a column, one of the challenges has to do with chapter length. Newspaper columns have to be a prescribed length, give or take a few words. I have given Jane a one-thousand-word target, with a ten word allowance on either side. That means she isn’t the only one who has to meet that target. As the person who is actually writing the columns, I do, too.

When I write a chapter for my middle-grade books, the length varies. With my readers in mind, I do have a minimum and maximum length, but they are significantly different. That means I can put in everything I think belongs and not worry about how to add more without making the chapter too wordy.

Meeting a tight target is much harder.

Three years ago I was given an assignment to write the February 2025 devotions for Portals of Prayer. Coming up with a month’s worth of ideas for daily devotions was challenging enough, but the hardest part was to keep them at “approximately 1,325 characters with spaces in Microsoft Word (. . . approximately 245-250 words).” My “approximately” and their “approximately” didn’t quite match, and I missed the mark on five of the 28. Fortunately, the editor sent them back to me to rework so I didn’t have to worry that the editor would make the changes himself and misinterpret what I was trying to say. (I had that happen with an article once.)

I wouldn’t mind writing a real newspaper column one day.

But it is hard even in fiction.

I Want My Joann Fabrics Back

I loved my Joann Fabrics store. It had a great selection of fabrics and yarns on site as well as other craft materials when I needed them. Unfortunately, the chain has been struggling to stay open and finally lost the fight a couple of months ago.

Since then, I’ve been trying to find a good replacement with no success.

There is a Michaels close to where Joann was, but their selection of yarn is poor, especially compared to what Joann’s had. And even though a sign in Michaels’ window says that fabrics are here, the fabric selection is laughable.

Someone told me to try Hobby Lobby, but that is a half-hour away in a direction I rarely go. Even so, I checked it out when I was in the area. It has a better selection than Michaels but not nearly what I was used to at Joann.

The internet is another option, but it has its own problems. The colors aren’t always true, and descriptions can be deceiving or even missing important information. I need to see and touch the yarn—and especially the fabric—to be sure I know what I am getting. Even so, the internet may be my go-to for yarn from now on since I can at least find brands I know and like.

But I want my Joann Fabrics back.

Mourning the Lake County Fair--Again

 

With one exception, I have competed in the Lake County Fair photography exhibit every year since 2015. That exception was 2020, when the entire Fair was shut down for COVID. Unfortunately, this year will be another exception. I had selected the photos (but fortunately not printed them yet) and sent in the entry form only to receive a letter saying that the photography exhibit is cancelled for this year because the building where it is held is structurally unsound. That wasn’t determined until inspected after a recent storm, so the fair committee didn’t have time to find a replacement location.

Although I compete in club competitions nine months of the year, I generally do better at the Lake County Fair. It’s also more fun because it requires a different kind of image selection process, with discrete categories and size restrictions. In fact, all photos must be 8X10 or 10X8, so sometimes it’s a challenge to decide what to leave in and what to crop out. Because of these differences between the club competitions and the one at the Lake County Fair, I was sorry I couldn’t participate in 2020, and I will also miss participating this year.

Since I don’t have the Lake County Fair as an outlet, I figured I would use this one to display a few of the many images I had planned to enter. They wouldn’t necessarily be the judge’s favorites, but they are mine.

The osprey at the top of this post was shot last month while it was flying over the Snake River in Washington. I would have entered it in the B&W Wildlife category.

Also from that trip is this photo of Multnomah Falls along the Columbia River in Oregon, which I would have entered in the B&W Scenic category.

One of the fun categories is called “Artistic Effect.” Most of the entries in it are photos that have been creatively doctored using postprocessing software, as I did with this one taken from a section of a pulpit in Mattias Church at Budapest, Hungary during a 2024 cruise.

This string of orchids was taken in Bangkok, Thailand in January.

The next photo shows a Portrait of a Vietnamese girl and was also taken in January. It demonstrates the dilemma created by having the 8X10 size restriction. Do I include her feet in the colorful sandals, which means I also have to include the uninteresting stuff on the left, or do I zoom in closer to her face to cut off the boring parts and lose the shoes as well? I would have tried it both ways before deciding.

This final photo would have been entered in the Human Interest category. The couple are my niece and her new husband at their farm wedding last August. (That’s my sister-in-law as the “limousine” driver.)

Entries must have been taken no more than three years before the fair, so all of these photos still qualify for next year. I would rather have entered them in 2025, though, to leave room for others I take before then.

But sometimes you just have to grin and bear it.