MY WRITING BUDDIES

There's an interesting story about my two precious dogs I'd like to share after I tell you what I decided tonight about the second chapter in my book. My husband and I spent the day at Sea World, and on the drive back I began writing in my head, something I'm constantly doing when I'm working. Meaning, I'm in the zone, but I still have to function as a normal person some of the time, so I've learned to keep my focus and only momentarily divert for outside activities.

My novel will probably take about six months to get to first draft. Since this is my thirteenth book, my first drafts are pretty good. One of the reasons is that I keep going back over the same material almost every day, something not a lot of writers will take the time to do, particularly novices. That doesn't mean, however, that there won't be a second and third draft before the book is ready to be copy edited.

The second chapter is extremely important as this is the first time the reader meets my lead character. What I wrote the other day wasn't bad, but I failed to follow one of the cardinal rules of writing, which is to show not tell. This occurred because very early on, the primary focus is on developing the characters. I personally enjoy interior dialogue (the character's thoughts). For writers with some experience, but perhaps not as seasoned as myself, some of the things I explain may be old hat. I want the novice writer to learn, so I'm going to try to make things as clear as possible. If you have questions about one thing or the other, you can email me at nancy@nancytrosenberg.com, and I'll do my best to answer your questions.

Now that I've figured out a new approach to the second chapter, I'll have to rewrite it, making the scenes more dynamic. This is something I'm always willing to do to make it better. My main character is a strong willed, independent, and outspoken former homicide detective who has only recently transferred to the FBI. She's a knockout and likes to dress anyway she wants. She also has a great sense of humor, which readers should enjoy. This is what meakes her so suitable to work in the Investigative Support Unit, where agent burnout is a major concern. Most peope know it as the Behaviorial Science Unit from movies and books, but it was renamed the Investigative Support in 1965.

Compared to most police departments, where I once worked, the atmosphere at the Bureau is more formal and stuffy. My character has plans to get her coworkers to lighten up, regardless of the horrible crimes they have to deal with. At the moment she's called in her supervisors office because of compliants as to how she dresses.

Remember, as we go on, I'll be concentrating on how to write a novel. Hopefully, you'll get something out of this and want to read the book, especially since you've followed its progress and the unfolding events in my life from start to finsh. Not the finish of my life, I hope, just the book. Also, it you're interesting in more writing tips and information on how to get published, on my website, www.nancytrosenberg.com, check under the section marked "Nancy's Writing Program" for a live speech entitled FIGHT TO WRITE which I made at the Southwestern Writers' Conference. It contains invaluable information about new authors and how to get their work pubished.

I'm pretty bushed tonight after the Sea World trip, but I will tell you the cute story about my little dogs. When my husband was a child, one of his relatives had a chihuahua named Chico, which he really liked. He admired the dog because it went up against two German Sheppards and managed to dominate them. Then his relative decided to bread Sheppards and although Chico, the dog's name, fought ferocioudly to remain top dog with four or five Sheppards, they finally killed him. When he died, bless his heart, the little dog had lost almost all his teeth fighting.

One day about two years ago, my husband and I were driving and I saw a pet store and yelled, "Stop!" We hadn't really planned on getting a dog, as training a new pub takes a lot of time. I also have a 150 gallon aquariam. I used to have birds, but they weren't much fun and were far too messy. As you can tell, I love animals. We didn't see a price tage on the chihuahua pup, so we asked the owner and she said she'd been thinking of keeping him. She's already named him Chico, the same name as the dog my husband loved as a kid. Well, of course, we knew we had to have him. And we were right, as he is adorable and loving.

A few weeks later, I was in the park and saw a young man walking an Italian Greyhound, a fairly rare breed. We chatted and he told me he had a female that was somewhat small that he was thinking of selling, as the dogs were cooped up all day in a condo. Then he told me her name was Gracie, and I knew I had to have her, as Gracie was the name of my dog who died.

As it turned out, my husband and I both got substitutes for the pets we once loved.

Have a great weekend.

Nancy