These days, I really enjoy the lighter side of life. Comedy movies, comic books, light-hearted material, and positive reads of all kinds. I even like cheery colors in my wardrobe. But it wasn’t all that long ago when I wrote darker and angrier. The need to get stuff off my chest dominated my pen (or more like my keyboard). I wrote a blog under a pen name about managing encounters with difficult people because I was at the point in my life where I’d had enough of the disruptive and unkind. I needed to find ways to manage these situations while keeping my peace of mind. Not easy to do in the legal profession, or as a parent (and child advocate) or even as an everyday citizen.

So I wrote about unpleasantness encountered on the road, at the grocery store, at the bank, on the phone and anywhere else where run-ins with the rude and mean occurred. I also included ways to battle and diffuse unpleasantries in life. Mostly for my own sake and hopefully the sake of my readers.

This type of writing went on for a while until I realized my focus had shifted to the opposite end of the spectrum. On the good, the kind, and the beautiful. What a difference that made in my life! I noticed the unpleasant encounters diminished, and the negative impact on me and my peace of mind had lessened. This shift reminded me of an old Native American story about a father who told his son of two wolves battling inside each of us. One is mean and vicious, the other gentle and kind. The son asked which one wins? The father answered, “The one that you feed.”

I found ways to focus on and feed the good, and crowd out the ugly by:

1. Practicing gratitude. It’s simple (and necessary) to take a few moments daily to contemplate all that makes us feel grateful. From the car on the road that kindly pauses to let us in, to the lovely sky above our heads. To enjoying life’s simplicities like food and shelter and dear friends.

2. Choosing wisely. Keep a turnstile in your head that picks what enters your mind, letting the positive in and booting the negative out. Refrain from criticism unless it’s to assess yourself on ways to improve. Leave others out of the equation unless your focus is on their good behavior. Top notch mental content is vital to the upkeep of our state of mind. It sets the tone for our moods, our thoughts, and how we get through our day. Don’t permit external factors to push you around. Choose to be happy and positive.

3. Did you know that germs aren’t the only thing that’re contagious? So is happiness.

I’ll elaborate on the power of happiness in next week’s episode. Until then, happy living and happy writing!

If you’re in the writing world, you’ve probably heard the term “voice.” What the heck is a voice in writing and how do you go about finding it? For a detailed play-by-play, check out this Writer’s Digest piece. For those who prefer to nutshell: The voice in a story is the unique (hopefully) personality that comes through in the way the narrator or a character talks or imparts information. For example, a shy voice may speak little and with difficulty. Perhaps with a stammer and a good amount of throat clearing. An exuberant voice may interrupt others, go off on a tangent, or break out into song. You get the picture.

When little ol’ me starts out writing, I’m so focused on getting the story out, the voices, or characters, in my book all sound the same. Even when I go back and revise, it takes a few revisions (okay maybe a whole lot more than a few) before I can get the personalities down. Followed by more revisions until my fingers are blistered and calloused. When stuck, it helps to ask characters questions. For example:

To main character, Corrie: Why are you doing what you shouldn’t be doing? Her reactions help me to better form her voice.

To Corrie’s best friend and possible love interest, Michael: Why are interrupting Corrie doing what she shouldn’t be doing? His reason for doing so forms his voice.

It also comes down to motivation. Once you understand your characters’ motivations (and history, of course – be sure you’ve got solid bios on all characters who appear on the pages more than once), it’s easier to pin down the particular voice that way. A telltale sign of a weak voice occurs when I start nodding off during my rewrites; I realize it’s because my voices are monotone. Time to insert some action, throw out the scene or give it a rest.

Why do I love the Stephanie Plum series by the wonderful Janet Evanovich? Because of the voices. They are entertaining, unpredictable and sometimes outrageous. Most importantly, they keep me wanting for more. The goal: to create such an amusing voice for each and every character that when the character is off the page, the reader keeps hoping they’ll return. A tall order, but pursuing a passion isn’t always easy. But it’s oh-so-gratifying when the voice is loud and clear.

It was only after I wrote a few drafts of my novel that I learned about beta readers. I’d heard of critique groups and manuscript swaps, but the first time I learned about this kind of reader was on a writing list-serv. Beta readers came highly recommended and were regarded by some as a necessity. Particularly to the novice writer. That would be me.

So what is a beta reader? Someone that gives feedback on a finished manuscript before it’s let loose on the world. Sounds fairly simple, but this type of reader doesn’t necessarily advertise. So where to find one? I did research on the Internet. Beta readers came in the form of friends, acquaintances, librarians, people one meets on Twitter/Facebook, pawn shop owners and practically anyone on the street who likes to read.

I didn’t want a beta reader who knew me and who might not want to be totally honest lest I hold a grudge for life (I would never despite what you may have heard).

A deeper search on the Internet unearthed an author who had a unique formula for finding such readers. I contacted this writer and asked permission to use her formula and to plagiarize her means of finding beta readers. She kindly agreed.

Her formula involved placing an ad on Craigslist and paying $10-$20 for a reader to read the manuscript. I changed it by requesting a read of the first 100 pages. I included these questions in my ad:

1) What did you like most about Murder and Other Unnatural Disasters?

2) What did you like least?

3) Where did your attention begin to wonder? (you can mention chapters and/or scenes or page numbers)

4) Where did you find the most difficulty in putting the book down? Where were you most excited? (you can mention chapters and/or scenes or page numbers)

5) At any point (and please mention where) were you confused? If so, where and what was the cause of confusion?

6) What would you change about the book in broad terms? This can be a scene, character, beginning, end, etc? Please be as descriptive as possible.

7) If the suggested changes you mentioned above were made, would you buy the book if it were published? Why or Why not?

Look for beta readers who like your genre and who fall in your highly anticipated audience. I closed my Craigslist ad by asking why they think they’d be a good beta reader. I ended up using four readers and found the suggestions from two of them quite valuable. They helped me make my book better. What more could I ask for?