Friday, December 06, 2013

History and Tradition of the Christmas Tree

The Santa and sleigh were from my Grandma St.John's tree.




I love this time of year, especially because I love Christmas trees and all the decorations. I’ve been working on thinning out my storage room, since I had enough ornaments to decorate trees with six different themes. I used to put up four trees, but we’ve downsized and I have to get my mind around the fact that I need less.

Every year since our children were small, we’ve spent an evening driving around and enjoying the lights. The houses are so lovely. Some people are extreme in their decorating, but my favorite part is still seeing that lighted tree in the front window. Over the holidays I usually have a chance to see several of our friends’ homes and trees, and I never get tired of the experience.

Late in the Middle Ages, Germans and Scandinavians placed evergreen trees inside their homes or just outside their doors to show their hope in the forthcoming spring. Records have it that the first Christmas tree or Tannenbaum can be traced to France in 1521, though the Germans are most often credited with its origin. The first trees were decorated with apples, nuts, dates, pretzels and paper flowers for the pleasure of the wealthy people’s children.

George Washington didn’t have a Christmas tree. Many colonial religions banned celebrations, claiming that they were tied to pagan traditions. The New England Puritans passed a law that punished anyone who observed the holiday with a five-shilling fine. The Quakers treated Christmas Day as any other day of the year. The Presbyterians didn’t have formal services until they noticed that their members were heading to the English church to attend theirs! This sparked the Presbyterian Church to start their own. It was the Anglicans, Roman Catholics and Lutherans who introduced Christmas celebrations to colonial America. December 25th actually began a season of festivities that lasted until January 6th--the Twelve days of Christmas. January 6th was called Twelfth Day, and colonists found it was the perfect occasion for balls, parties and other festivals.

Some historians trace the lighted Christmas tree to Martin Luther. He attached candles to a small evergreen tree to simulate the reflections of the starlit heavens--the heaven that looked down over Bethlehem on the first Christmas Eve.

In the early 19th century, decorating a tree became popular among the nobility and spread to royal courts as far as Russia. Princess Henrietta of Nassau-Weilburg introduced the Christmas tree to Vienna in 1816, and the custom spread across Austria.

In her journal for Christmas Eve 1832, the delighted 13-year-old princess who later became England’s Queen Victoria wrote, "After dinner...we then went into the drawing-room near the dining room...There were two large round tables on which were placed two trees hung with lights and sugar ornaments, all the presents being placed round the trees." A young Victoria often visited Germany and most likely picked up the customs she enjoyed. A woodcut of the royal family with their Christmas tree at Osborne House, initially published in the Illustrated London News of December 1848, was copied in the United States at Christmas in 1850. Victoria was very popular with her subjects, and what was done at court immediately became fashionable--not only in Britain, but with the fashion-conscious east coast American society.

A German immigrant living in Ohio was the first to decorate a tree with candy canes. In 1847, Imgard cut a blue spruce tree from a woods outside town, had the Wooster village tinsmith construct a star, and placed the tree in his house, decorating it with paper ornaments and candy canes. The canes were all white with no red stripes.

Ornaments were made by hand during those early years. Young ladies spent hours quilting snowflakes and stars, sewing little pouches for secret gifts and paper baskets with sugared almonds in them. Popcorn and cranberries were strung on thread and draped as garland. Tin was pierced to create lights and lanterns to hold candles, which glowed through the holes. People hunted the general stores for old magazines with pictures, rolls of cotton wool and tinsel, which was occasionally sent from Germany or brought in from the eastern states. Small toys were placed on the branches. Most of the trees at this time were small at sat on a tabletop. They weren’t the six and seven foot trees we think of today when we think of Christmas trees.

A F.W. Woolworth brought the glass ornament tradition from Germany to the United States in 1890. The Christmas tree market was born in 1851 when a Catskill farmer by the name of Mark Carr hauled two ox sleds of evergreens into New York City and sold them all. By 1900 one in five American families had a Christmas tree, and twenty years later the custom was nearly universal.

In 1880 England, Christmas trees became a glorious hotchpotch of everything one could cram on and grew to floor-standing trees. They were still a status symbol, the more affluent the family, the larger the tree.

The High Victorian of the 1890's was a child's joy to behold! It stood as tall as the room, and was crammed with glitter and tinsel and toys galore. Even the middle classes managed to over decorate their trees. It was a case of anything goes. Everything that could possibly go on a tree went onto it. Kind of like my philosophy: More is more. I decorated my tree Victorian this year, and it’s all about excess. My tree turns slowly, so I can sit and watch as all the ornaments come around for viewing.

Do you have memories of Christmas trees from your youth? Remember tinsel trees, those aluminum lovelies with the turning color wheel light that made it change colors? My grandma had one of those. I inherited a few of her decorations: A set of cardboard houses crusted with glitter that have tissue paper windows and a set of Santa and reindeer that were among the first products made from plastic.

Is your tree up yet?

Wednesday, November 27, 2013

GIVEAWAY TODAY: Harlequin Historical Authors Holiday Giveaway



The Harlequin Historical Authors Holiday Giveaway begins TODAY with my giveaway. In the spirit of an Advent calendar, the authors are giving away daily prizes and a Grand Prize of an Kindle Fire HDX Wi-Fi (or equivalent tablet depending on your location). Play every day for more chances to win.

My individual prize for a US resident is two books:
* LOVE, Quotes and Passages From the Heart, edited by B.C. Aronson
* Scones, Muffins & Tea Cakes, Breakfast Breads and Teatime Spreads
* and a vintage cup and saucer



TO BE ELIGIBLE TO WIN MY INDIVIDUAL Prize:
 

* You must be a United States resident
 

* Leave a comment on my author Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/CherylStJ
 

If you haven't already Liked my author page, you will have to Like it to leave a comment.

* One entry any time between November 27th and December 1st.

The Rules:
Each participating author will have an activity planned on their website for their special day. You may be asked to comment on a blog, find an ornament, or visit a Facebook page. For each day you participate, your name will be entered into the Grand Prize drawing. At the end of the month on December 23, one day from the calendar will be randomly selected. One of the entrants from that day will then be randomly selected to win the Kindle. The more days you visit, the better your chances! Happy Holidays and we look forward to seeing you.

http://www.michellewillingham.com/official-rules/

Sunday, November 17, 2013

Announcing the Harlequin Historical Authors Holiday Giveaway

The Harlequin Historical Authors Holiday Giveaway is back. In the spirit of an Advent calendar, the authors are giving away daily prizes and a Grand Prize of a Kindle Fire (or equivalent tablet depending on your location). Play every day for more chances to win.

The Rules:

Each participating author will have an activity planned on their website for their special day. You may be asked to comment on a blog, find an ornament, or visit a Facebook page. For each day you participate, your name will be entered into the Grand Prize drawing. At the end of the month on December 23, one day from the calendar will be randomly selected. One of the entrants from that day will then be randomly selected to win the Kindle. The more days you visit, the better your chances! Happy Holidays and we look forward to seeing you. Click here for official rules and eligibility.

Participating Authors

Wednesday, October 16, 2013

Writing Basics: Creating Tension In A Scene





Creating Tension In A Scene

Tension is what keeps the reader turning pages. Caring about what happens to your character is the most important hook a writer creates. There must be something happening and something at stake in every scene. Because of the importance of pacing, tension isn’t appropriate for every scene. We need peaks and valleys. Our audience must be able to recognize the calm spots in order to recognize high intensity.

It’s important to build traits into the characters that will lead to trouble in important scenes. Impetuousness, independence, pride and naiveté are all qualities that can get your character into jams. Make the character’s conflict an inherent part of him. Starting with solid conflict assures tense scenes will occur throughout the story.

Set up the tension. Keep saying “No” to your character. Whatever it is he wants, hold it back. Don’t try to fix things--that comes later. Much of the time I don’t even worry how I will fix a problem. If I don’t know, I can usually figure I’ve kept the reader guessing. The best conflict is that which appears unsolvable, so heap situations on your story people so they can prove their mettle. Don’t make their situation easier, always make it more difficult.

Look at your character’s goals and ask yourself, “What’s the worst thing that could happen?” Then take the worst thing a step further. For emotional intensity, conflict should be directly related to the character’s internal goals and to their backstory. Don’t rely on “incidents” to carry scenes or conflict. Heaping one calamity after another can end up leaving the reader breathless and without direction. By an incident, I mean something that could happen to anyone and doesn’t really have emotional importance to this particular character.

Here’s a simplistic example: A torrential thunderstorm with hail that destroys property or crops would be devastating for anyone. But if your character’s goal is to become a success by growing the largest tomato for the state fair, and her parents died when a storm washed out a bridge when she was young, you’ve got the basis for a tense scene.

Jayne Ann Krentz once suggested that in pivotal scenes you should think “larger-than-life, emotion and contrast.” A plot is basically a series of pivotal scenes that will cause your two main characters to confront each other frequently on an intense emotional level. Arrange these scenes in your story so that they escalate in terms in intensity.

Leaving details about the character in question is an effective way to intrigue your reader. Don’t fill in all the answers, but give them enough so that they’re not frustrated. With most techniques, what to use and what to omit is a balance, one that depends on your story and your characters.

You can’t leave out something and then just throw it in at the end because it needs to be told or because it’s the end of the book. You must make the reader want to know the information by planting a seed, alluding to this mystery and using it as a teaser. Like this line: “She hated funerals.” Someone dies, but your heroine won’t go to the services. The reader is left knowing there is a reason and wanting to know the reason. The lure of the unknown draws the reader further and further into the story. Revealing too much takes away the seductive lure of discovery.

The reader must know something is missing. We don’t want to make him feel as though he’s had something pulled over on him once the story ends. We don’t want him surprised that something is revealed, we want him surprised at what that revelation is.

Another approach is the Hitchcock technique: Let the reader know something that none of the story people know. This is successful because it keeps the reader guessing when the character will find out and how they will react.

In a romance, love scenes are action scenes, and if you’ve kept sexual tension high throughout the first chapters, the reader is eagerly awaiting this scene. If the love scene happens at the end of the book, it’s a resolution--by now the hero and heroine have realized they love each other and are culminating their physical relationship. All external conflicts should have been tied up by this time.

If a love scene takes place before internal conflict is settled, as a plot point or as an added dilemma, then you must follow the scene with a new problem or hook or story question that keeps the story moving. If tension is allowed to be dropped, your story will stop moving forward.

The classic example, of course, is where the hero/heroine declare their love, everything seems blissful, and then one of them discovers some truth about the other that pushes them apart again. This is used so much in books and movies because it works so well, but it’s always fun to think up something new, so give freshness another thought when you’re plotting.

Change is what keeps the reader turning pages: New challenges, new information, new twists and added complications.

Backstory in a scene of tension slows the pace. Save it for sequels and then use only sparingly. If you need to reveal information, you can do it through a quick flash of internalization or a secondary character’s dialogue.

Hint at things to make the reader want to know.
Keep the reader wanting to know more.

In a faster-paced scene avoid speech tags and use action instead. “I can’t take this any more!” James slammed his fist on the table.

Use shorter sentences, shorter paragraphs and clipped dialogue. This is not the time for descriptions or internalization or lengthy speeches. Use shorter, simpler words that don’t distract the reader from the action.

Don’t be wordy. Don’t echo dialogue with exposition. As you should always do, use specific adjectives, vivid nouns and strong verbs.

Use a hook at the end of a paragraph.
Use a hook when you switch point of view.
Use a hook at the end of each scene.
And of course, use a hook at the end of each chapter.

How is this done? Say something or allude to something that makes the reader ask herself “Why?” Make her want to see a character reaction. Make her want to find out what happens next.

Keep the reader in suspense and expecting by not giving answers. Present questions and give just enough information to keep the story moving forward. If you do answer a question, then it should be information that only opens up a bigger question.

As a rule, don’t end a scene with hope or acceptance or resolve--those are for internal narrative or decisions. Do end the scene with a story question, worry, pain, anger, frustration or a negative reaction. Our goal is to keep the reader turning pages because he has a question, is engaged and wants to see what happens next. Tension is the state of excitement, nervousness or concern over the outcome that doesn’t allow the reader to relax until he gets to the end.

Wrap it all up at the end. Don’t leave any loose threads and show your reader a satisfying conclusion. We don’t like tension in real life. We want to experience all the chaos and drama through our characters’ viewpoints and know that in the end everything will turn out all right.


Writing With Emotion, Tension, and Conflict: Techniques for Crafting an Expressive and Compelling Novel
Today's highly competitive fiction market requires writers to imbue their novels with that special something - an element that captures readers' hearts and minds. In Writing With Emotion, Tension & Conflict, writers will learn vital techniques for writing emotion into their characters, plots and dialogue in order to instill that special something into every page.

"...essential knowledge and practical exercises which combined, create a tool-kit that no aspiring author can afford to be without. Everything you need to write your novel can be found in these pages." 
   
 - Kelly L. Stone, author of THINKING WRITE: The Secret to Freeing Your Creative Mind

Wow! Where was this book when I started my writing career?
"A must-have compilation of rock-sound advice from a writer who knows what she's talking about. A book you'll want to inhale whole and then return to time and time again to improve your craft and go deeper in order to write YOUR story. Not only does this book embrace some of the most complex elements of story construction in a clear, easy to digest format, it acts as inspiration for the writer. Sentence upon sentence of outstanding advice!"

- Mary Buckham, author of the Amazon best-selling WRITING ACTIVE SETTINGS series for writers.

"I've been a fan of Cheryl St.John's fiction for years.  She's a master of emotional stories.  And with this book she passes on those skills to both new and seasoned writers."    
- Holly Jacobs, author of Steamed: A Maid in LA Mystery
CLICK HERE TO PRE-ORDER

Monday, October 14, 2013

Writing Basics: Writing for Publication




Writing For Publication - Cheryl St.John

Authors often hear comments like, “I have a book I want to write too,” or “Let me tell you about my life.” Some people have the impression that it’s ridiculously easy to write, sell and publish a book. Writing a book is hard work and getting it published the traditional way is no guarantee.  A lot of writers have several books under their belt before they’ve learned to write well. A lot of good writers are still waiting for a break.

Some people think their book deserves to get published because they had a wonderful idea or because their mother loves it.  Or because they spent a whole two months working on it.  I’ve actually had people say to me, “I’ve always wanted to write a book, so I’m going to do it when I get a few free weekends.”  That’s like saying, “I’ve always wanted to play pro football, so I’m going to scrimmage with Tim Tebow on my next summer vacation.”

Writing is an art.  Art takes training, sacrifice and dedication.  Of course writing involves talent, but much of writing is learnable, and the learnable parts require study and self-evaluation.  To write well and sell in today’s tough market, you must learn the craft.

There are a million books out there to help you learn to write, so how do you choose?  The books that writers find valuable are as varied as the writers themselves.  I started at the library and read everything my local branch had on fiction writing, then I expanded to monthly periodicals and purchasing how-to books.  See the list at the bottom of this blog.

If writing is going to be more than a hobby, you need to learn the business—and it’s an ever changing and evolving marketplace.  If you want your work published, you must commit to both the craft and to learning about publishing.

First you need to figure out what genre you’re writing in.  Genre is a marketing tool used to distinguish types of stories.  Go to a bookstore and compare which books are the most like yours to figure out where your books will be shelved.  There’s so much to learn.  How do you get help deciphering all this stuff? 

Find a national support organization for your genre.  Browse their websites.  There are national groups such as Science Fiction Writers of America, Mystery Writers of America, Western Writers of America, Romance Writers of America, Sisters in Crime.   You might find a local statewide writers' organization. 

You are not looking for a writing group.  You are looking for an organization designed for advocacy and information.  Most have membership fees on national or local levels, and you must consider this an investment in your career.  Dues are tax deductible.  Membership provides you with market updates, editor and agent information, submission guidelines, online mailing lists, conference information, writers groups and critique groups, just to name a few benefits.

I wouldn’t have been published when I was if I hadn’t found Romance Authors of the Heartland and learned the techniques of writing with the support and encouragement of fellow writers.

More reasons to join a local chapter:
Market updates
Contests
Local writing retreats
Monthly support meetings
Critique groups
Online support and brainstorming
Teaching programs by professional writers
Research help and tips
Yearly goal setting program
Conference information
Editor and agent tips
Submission guidelines
Recognition for writing achievements
Meeting other people who have as many characters in their heads as you and therefore don’t find you a bit odd


How To Books:

* Techniques of The Selling Writer, Dwight V. Swain
   University of Oklahoma Press: Norman   ISBN # 0-8061-1191-7
* Writing the Breakout Novel, Donald Maass, Writer’s Digest, ISBN # 0-89879-995-3
* The Complete Writer’s Guide to Heroes & Heroines, Tami Cowden, ISBN #1-58065-024-4
* GMC, Debra Dixon, ISBN # 978-0965437103
* Writing Active Setting, Mary Buckham ASIN: B009MRLXQW
* Building Believable Characters, Marc McCutcheon, Writer’s Digest ISBN # 0-89879-683-0
* Creating Characters, How To Build Story People, Dwight V. Swain, Writer’s Digest
   ISBN #0-89879-417-X


Books on the Basics:

* Webster’s New Collegiate Dictionary
* Random House Dictionary of the English Language, unabridged edition
* Roget’s International Thesaurus


Inspiration:

* Writing on Both Sides of the Brain, Henriette Anne Klauser, ISBN # 0-06-254490-X
* Thinking Write, The Secret to Freeing Your Creative Mind, Kelly L. Stone  
   ISBN# 1605501328
* On Writing, Stephen King, ISBN #064853523
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Writing With Emotion, Tension, and Conflict: 
Techniques for Crafting an Expressive and Compelling Novel

Today's highly competitive fiction market requires writers to imbue their novels with that special something - an element that captures readers' hearts and minds. In Writing With Emotion, Tension & Conflict, writers will learn vital techniques for writing emotion into their characters, plots and dialogue in order to instill that special something into every page.

"...essential knowledge and practical exercises which combined, create a tool-kit that no aspiring author can afford to be without. Everything you need to write your novel can be found in these pages."
 
    - Kelly L. Stone, author of THINKING WRITE: The Secret to Freeing Your Creative Mind

Wow! Where was this book when I started my writing career?

"A must-have compilation of rock-sound advice from a writer who knows what she's talking about. A book you'll want to inhale whole and then return to time and time again to improve your craft and go deeper in order to write YOUR story. Not only does this book embrace some of the most complex elements of story construction in a clear, easy to digest format, it acts as inspiration for the writer. Sentence upon sentence of outstanding advice!"

- Mary Buckham, author of the Amazon best-selling WRITING ACTIVE SETTINGS series for writers.