Laughter is the Best Medicine

I've secretly always wished I could write funny. I even bought two different books on the subject. That's when I should have caught the clue--if you have to buy a book to understand how to write funny, it's NOT your strength.

I received this via my gym today and thought I'd pass it along.

The benefits of a belly laugh

No matter why you are giggling, studies have shown that a laugh will do you good. Laughter helps you deal with a variety of maladies including the stress of daily life. The benefit of laughter on your health is no joke. A sense of humor can't cure all ailments, but data is mounting about the things that laughter can do.

Short-term benefits

A good laugh has great short-term effects. When you start to laugh, it doesn't just lighten your load mentally, it actually induces physical changes in your body, beginning with your face.

Long-term effects

Laughter isn't only good for a quick pick-me-up, it's also good for you over the long haul.

Laughter can:

• Stimulate your organs. Laughter enhances your intake of oxygen-rich air, stimulates your heart, lungs and muscles, and increases the endorphins that are released by your brain.

• Activate your stress response. A rollicking laugh fires up and then cools down your stress response, and increases your heart rate and blood pressure. The result? A good, relaxed feeling.

• Soothe tension and tummy aches. Laughter can ease digestion and stimulate circulation which helps reduce some of the physical symptoms of stress.

Laughter may:

• Improve your immune system. Negative thoughts manifest into chemical reactions that can affect your body by bringing more stress into your system and by decreasing your immunity. In contrast, positive thoughts actually release neuropeptides that help fight stress and potentially more serious illnesses.

• Relieve pain. Research increasingly shows that laughter may ease pain by causing the body to produce its own natural pain killers.

• Increase personal satisfaction. Laughter can also make difficult situations a little bit easier.

How to have or gain a sense of humor

Are you afraid you have an underdeveloped or nonexistent funny bone? Developing or refining your own particular sense of humor may be easier than you think.

• Put humor on your horizon. Find a few simple items, such as photos or comic strips that elicit a chuckle from you or others. Then hang them at home, in your office or even on the visor of your car.

• Laugh and the world laughs with you. Develop a sense of humor about your own situation, and watch your stress begin to fade away.

• Think positive. Look for the positive or the humorous in every situation, and surround yourself with others who do the same.

• Knock-knock. Browse through your local bookstore or library's selection of joke books to get a few rib-ticklers in your repertoire that you can share with friends.

Laughter is the best medicine

Go ahead and try it. Turn the corners of your mouth up into a smile and then give a laugh, even if it feels a little forced. Once you've had your hearty chuckle, take stock of how you feel. Are your muscles a little less tense? Do you feel more relaxed or buoyant?

That's the natural wonder of laughter at work.

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It's All in the Perspective

You've heard it a million times--half full or half-empty? Eeyore or Tigger?

I'm working on a transition, spending more time in a Tigger state of mind than in an Eeyore state of mind. It's tough. Eeyore has been ingrained in me all my life, and he doesn't like being in a cage while Tigger bounces around outside the bars blowing rasperries at him.

So after forty years of seeing the glass half-empty, I'm trying to take a new perspective and see it has half-full.

I ran across this article with it's gleaming little gems and wanted to share with other Tigger-challenged writers out there.

From Robyn DeHart:

"Take the dreaded synopsis for example. How many of us have heard it called
such a thing? The word “dreaded” conjures up images of torture and pain,
something that is difficult or impossible to accomplish. Before I even began to write my first synopsis, I expected it to be horrible. Dreaded. And with these expectations, it was rather dreadful. "

"Another example is the “sagging middle”. When I started my first book I looked to that middle with trepidation. I was terrified. I studied cures to fix the certainty of my sagging middle. I can’t really remember the middle in that first book or whether or not it was particularly difficult or saggy, but I’ve written enough now to know that the middle is actually my favorite part. "

What's your favorite (or least favorite as the case may be) "saying" regarding your writing?

Robyn goes on to echo one of my own firm beliefs when she says:

"I’m a firm believer in embracing your own way to write, but I am also a firm believer in growth and education. I think writers who live their lives by “I cant’s”, “I onlys”, or “I nevers” do themselves an injustice. You never know what will or won’t work for you until you try. Try something before you make an opinion about it, and don’t allow another person’s experiences color your own. Keep an open mind - a mind willing and ready to learn. Make your own decisions about things like synopses and middles; the last thing you need is to question your ability because things aren’t like they’re “supposed” to be."

Thanks for the reminder, Robyn!

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Q Factor

Popped out some more queries today -- 15 to be exact. Received a few quick R's to the last set, one request for a few pages which was subsequently R'd. Lots still outstanding...which is a good thing...right?

How are your Q's going?

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TIP: Less Is More

I subscribe to a lot of lists that send me articles on writing. I've gained quite a bit of knowledge over the years from these aricles as well as hours and hours and hours of practice. I often think how I'd like to share some of this knowledge with other writers, but just as quickly remember that instruction is definitely not my forte.

So, I've decided to offer up some tips as described by those who are talented instructors echoing my thoughts and feelings on the subject.

Today's tip: Less Is More.

I find this a lot when critiquing, typically with young writers--not young as in age, but young as in length of writing career. I recognize it because I, too, made this mistake as a young writer. I sometimes still make this mistake and am constantly cutting in edits and revisions.

The culprit? 1) Not trusting your reader. They're much smarter than we give them credit for. Our audience is filled with seasoned romance readers. They understand the nuances of romance, they can read between the lines, they anticipate plot lines and character arcs. We don't have to explain it all to them.

2) Not trusting yourself. When you don't trust the strength of your writing, you tend to over-explain, over-simplify and repeat yourself. If you're truly showing and not telling, you won't need to over-write.

Here are a few tips from Caro Clarke:

"...since you don't want your readers to start with the wrong impression [of your character], you pile up descriptive scenes as soon as the story opens. "

"...personal appearance matters only when it influences a character's motivation or has an impact upon the story."

"...where description is necessary, avoid a solid, dull block of descriptive prose by integrating description with action, or by having the description filtered through the eyes of a character."

"...give the reader the fewest descriptive words necessary to convey the scene."

"...a basic rule of writing is to have nothing that does not propel the narrative, either because it furthers the action, or because it illuminates character within that action. Two people rushing through the night to the hospital is action, two people arguing in the car as they rush to the hospital is character development within action."

One other tip I heard somewhere in my writing travels was regarding description: Don't use more description in your manuscript in any one place than the character could take in or recognize within two minutes time under the setting circumstances.

Do you have tips on Less Is More that you can share?

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Cool News

SAFE IN ENEMY ARMS finalled in the Linda Howard Excellence Award contest.

Now I have to get it polished up for submission to the final judge: Lauren McKenna, Executive Editor, Pocket.

Oh...and out of those queries I sent which spurred my last post, I got a requested full from one of my top tier agents.

So...as I said in my post...JUST QUERY. (And then keep your fingers crossed.) :-)

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JUST QUERY

Wow, almost two months since I last posted. I guess those holidays that I swore wouldn't slow me down, slowed me down.

It's January 15th -- just about the right time to get back into the swing of the normal routine, right? Well, sorta. I've got some new things going on that I'll talk more about later.


Today, I'm talking about submissions. I have a bunch of excuses I could easily (and justifiably) use to delay sending off my next set of queries to the agents one tier down on my list. These include, but are not limited to:

• I'm working full time
• My husband is out of town
• The house is a mess
• There is laundry to be done
• There are bills to be paid
• There is homework to be supervised
• It's too late (at night)
• I have to get up early tomorrow
• I'm too tired
• I'm PMSing
• I'm just going to get rejected anyway

But, I didn't focus on those (IMHO very valid) excuses. I just opened my computer, brought up my documents and got started. An hour later, my queries are out, and I feel good about that. It's a little like exercise--you don't particularly love it while you're doing it, but you feel much better after it's done.

So, just ignore your excuses (no matter how extraordinary, they are) and JUST QUERY.

Total sent: 12
Email Q's: 8
Mail Q's: 4


I still have 2 partials and 1 full out to agents, sent first of November. Not quite what I'd consider "written off", but also not particularly promising. I also still have 2 mailed Q's that have not received a response yet.


Share your querying progress (or woes).

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