The Writer's Mailbag: installment 229

Yep, I think I am.

Bill

Thank you for your consideration regarding the political wranglings that go on. I'm just thankful we don't have 'mid-terms' and the like.

I agree what you say regarding Eric's question, though even using the same phrases you can 'play' with how the character says them.

Also really enjoyed the excerpt from the novel, like you, my next one will be totally different.

I returned because I read Flourish's comment about the Hubbie awards this year. I was also very disappointed with the categories..Loudest Voice in the Forums, Most likely to be Kicked Out of HP, Biggest Grammar Nazi (or something to that effect).

Management obviously don't take them seriously and treat it as a joke. Most of us actually want to vote for who we consider good writers among our peers. There used to be awards for poetry and creative writing as well....no more.

I didn't vote in the Hubbies this year either for the first time but you're grand and I love you, Bill.

Bill,

I am in Florida and the mid-term elections are under recount! The only good news is the terrible, vicious campaign ads are gone. But I agree with you, I am silent when it comes to politics. I have too many friends who sit on opposite sides of some issues. We still manage to be friends and family so I am not going to stir the pot by writing about it

Your excerpt from your novel has me intrigued. Let us know when it is available.

I forgot in my comments in Mailbag 230 to wish you peace during this holiday season.

I agree with Flourish's comment. I was quite disappointed in the categories this year. And the Loudest Voice in the Forums? I took that to mean which hubber continually puts their two cents in and in a negative, critical, judgmental way. (I actually did vote in that category because I will no longer ask for the community's advice in the forums for critique on my articles. I'm not a bad writer, but there is a forum frequenter who makes everyone feel as if they have no business posting) The Most Likely to be Kicked out of HP? Seriously????? Awards should be made to those who have a positive impact on the community as a whole and encourage those who are here to write and learn and those who are a good example of stellar composition. Period.

Regarding your commentary on civility, I wanted to share something with you and get your take on it. The Hubbie Award categories recently came out (late, as they usually come out in September). One of the categories was "Loudest Voice in the Forum."

This is not something I feel HP should encourage, so I wrote the following email to HP in an attempt to politely dissuade them.

"I was disappointed to see HubPages encouraging the disturbing political vitriol that exists on the forums by designating a Hubbie category for 'Loudest Voice on the Forums'. Loudmouths by mere definition are individuals who refuse to take the time to listen and respect differences. They purposefully mow over others and forcefully push their opinions, often at any expense. Their words are not neutral. They are offensive.

"HP has many people who never visit the forums because of such loudmouths and the forum incivility. Even if it the award is a nominal gift, it's a mistake to bring positive attention to uncivil behavior in an online community such as HP -- unless you want more of it? I cannot imagine that you do, as the behavior brings us ALL down. I sincerely hope you will reconsider that category and remove it or replace it."

In response, I got the following:

"I hope you understand that this category name is merely meant to be playful and fun, and that the intention behind the title is to award whoever helps others the most in the forums. It is not actually singling out "loudmouths."

I'm so over it, so I responded, "Wouldn't that be Most Helpful? Just saying. Have it your way. You're in charge." Bill, these folks either don't read the forums or don't care. I've turned my forum settings OFF, but on occasion, someone will innocently express something or ask a question in another context and all hell breaks loose. I saw it the other day. It's venomous. What is HP getting out of continuing to ENCOURAGE (not shouting, just emphasizing, buddy) Hubbers to behave like this?

Hi Bill. I agree with you about the vitriol in the "us versus them" rhetoric that seems to have taken over far too many narratives in the discourse of everyday life. Sheesh!

I loved the "I could have done better," and am grateful I'm not the only one who experiences this malady of sorts that other writers feel and share. Thank goodness I'm not alone. :-)

And thank you, again, for this series, Bill. It's always such a pleasure to read these articles.

I love the excerpts of your new novel Bill. I love the flow of your paragraph and I just have to sit down and practice this. I look forward to reading this. Fighting evil is a great theme.

It's been a long time since I stopped taking an interest in the politics of the country. They are all the same.

By and large, technology has certainly made life easier for each one of us and this is most welcome.

My learning continues. Thank you.

Yes, yes, yes! I cannot tell you how happy I was when Election Day finally arrived. We always vote early, and so, it was even more annoying and frustrating to see the ads on TV and receive them in the mail -- such a waste of paper and natural resources, if you ask me. It's nice to have a place to retreat from all the madness. Have a great weekend!

The elections are past, but there is hardly any escape from the political holabaloo. Like you, I thank God for the ability to focus on writing and the writing lessons you give through your mailbag.

Thank goodness for an end to our mid-term elections. I'm also fed up with the hatred and name-calling, pointless finger pointing and other waste of time activity that our elected officials are engaging in. I wish they would put as much energy into making a difference and improving the human condition. So, rant over. I agree with you, Bill. Let's move on to better things.

Your excerpt from your novel is engaging and interesting. You combine emotions and reality quite well leaving us with a cliff hanger of sorts as to future events. Nicely done.

Sorry, Bill, I was just messing with you. Please take all the time you need. After all, you can't rush perfection. lol

Great mailbag. I enjoy it when you put the book you are working on in the mailbags. It is instruction and demonstration!

Bill, I could not agree more with your view on American politics. It is a free-for-all with each side taking potshots at each other that serve no purpose. I could go on but I won't.

Love these little teasers but it's making me more impatient for your next novel. Have a great day.

I'm very grateful that technology allows us to edit our writing, too! Thanks for continuing to deliver the Mailbag for such a long time, Bill.

Hi, Bill, better late than never, I guess. I thought I'd have lots of time to write when I retired, but now I wonder how I ever found time to go to work. Well, the election will be over, but I'm sure that tomorrow will be politics as usual. I wish I could turn off the TV, but Larry does a podcast that is politically oriented, so ours blares from arising to go-to-bed for his materials. And he wonders why I never wear my hearing aids!

I really enjoyed your excerpt from your new novel. Thanks for making it available to read. I did your meditation (I'm into that sort of thing, you know) and now I'm bewildered. The person looked more like a girl character out of a teen-age 1950s cartoon. She was a pretty girl, but now I'm confused. I have no idea what to do with her. Oh, well, maybe the idea will come to me.

Last night it rained so hard I felt like I was driving home from dinner in a snowstorm, could hardly see the interstate. Tonight it's turning cooler. I noticed that our leaves were turning from green to brown here. No colorful autumn like North Arkansas is having, I guess. Hope you're having better fall weather, my friend.

It's another wonderful mailbag with those three questions and an excerpt from your coming book. I enjoyed the piece very much. It's a very interesting conversation with that girl imparting some important message.

Regarding the amendments after publishing books, it is really a wonderful facility available now for writer-publishers to edit their books and update them even after publishing the book. I thank the internet for that boon.

And, now we are celebrating the Deepavali festival here in India. The main day is tomorrow when we decorate our homes with lights. The major enjoyment that had been for most people all those years is now dwindling with crackers being becoming banned due to pollution problems. So, it is now only the Lights and Sweets festival. And, I like that thing.

The election will finally be over after today except for some possible runoffs. We voted early. The vitriol is worse than ever and I am disgusted that our Congress members are so polarized that they cannot work together for the common good. That is their main job!

Let us hope and pray that things get better in the future and that we can peacefully resolve differences and make good compromises for the good of the country and the world. If not, I fear for the future and feel sorry for youngsters growing up in this mayhem for many different reasons. We need an abundance of peace, love, mutual respect, and brotherhood.

I'm with you on the mid-term election vitriol, Bill. I'm so over it! Thank goodness it'll end today.

Love the sneak peak into your latest Shadows novel. Since this is the last in the series, I'm wondering if Liz and Eli will finally annihilate The Shadow Man.

I hate election time, especially the news coming up to it. Great mailbag, thanks for answering my question, Bill, and sharing a little of your novel.

In India, elections are due next year and the frenzy has already started. Thankfully, I don't watch much television but the newspapers talk little of anything else. And talking of politics, have you ever written something related to politics? A political piece can give rise to much discussion and trolling. How to deal with it?

Yay, in the Mailbag while it's still Monday!

Re: Politics. I cannot wait for tomorrow to be over. That is all.

Re: Could Have Done Better. Always. I look back and think, "Yuck." But then when I see that some of my yuck still makes a buck, I realize that I'm getting stuck in perennial perfectionism and then decide to move forward.

Re: Verbal Tics. I wouldn't worry too much about repetition, especially of dialogue because it really is a reflection of the person saying it. My hubs has pointed out my frequent calls to the Almighty as a verbal tic.

Well, I'm going to stop watching the election updates until Wednesday morning. Have a great week otherwise!

I am with you about the news. I have avoided it almost totally for the past couple of weeks. You would think somehow we all could work together and quite all the acting out BS.

I enjoyed your article as usual. Your new book sample was intriguing. I would certainly like to read more.

You know I believe in Oneness, Bro … even interconnectedness or harmony. So why shouldn't the American elections affect me? But I know what you mean. Bring out that toilet bowl. (chuckle)

Concerning John's question, I wrote a Sonnet-Ode for a girl yesterday and read it last night. I changed it several times! Even at the event, I was still changing it. Writer's curse, if you ask me.

Ann would find that all things eventually wear themselves out... fade away and die. Yet she is right, it is her own inner voice that will eventually tell her, or may even be beginning too.

"Ultimately everything becomes boring. God the omnipotent becomes boring; God the omniscient, becomes boring. But, but, God the all Love, never, never becomes boring." -Sri Chinmoy

Enjoy the rest of your Monday. Stay away from politics, but this advice would mean you need to live on another planet. Lol. You have my empathy.

I'm with you about the midterms. Although I like to watch the different campaigns form their strategies, sometimes those strategies get exhausted. Although I do get a kick out of the different types of propaganda the different campaigns use.

I love your forthcoming novel. Your stories are so deep with underlying tones it is almost scary to think about it. I don't have TV service so all I do is watch DVD's. Last night I watched Ghost Rider (the second in the Marvel movies about this character). Ghost Rider gives me the creeps, but I still watch it over and over. Your latest novel in-the-making (and I hope you don't take offense) gives me the creeps (said in the most respectful tone). Nevertheless, I can't wait to snatch it off the shelf.

I am intrigued by your new book, and I definitely want more!

Happy Monday Bill! Thanks for the teaser, I enjoyed it and I'm looking forward to it (even if its the final of that series!).

I am attempting nanowrimo for the second time. I tried it like 5 or 6 years ago, didn't come close to 50k words, but it did help me get into a daily writing habit of which I've long since fallen out of. Now, I'm hoping to really get that habit back. I know I might not reach the 50k goal, but if I can just keep writing every day, I know I'll be building a good habit for the future.

Wishing you a happy and productive week!

Bill, thanks for another great week of Q's and A's. There's is always something to learn here. It's almost like being back in school. You, the teacher Me, the student. Thank you, Mr. Holland.

Hi Bill. I have also had enough of the political rhetoric and nastiness. Why does politics always have to be so mean. I will vote tomorrow, and then be glad it's all over with. The could have done it better question really hits home, it now takes me forever to publish a hub because I fret over every little detail. Thankfully, for what I write I can easily go back and modify, which I Always do. Have a great week.

Bill, your Today I prefer to write about beauty photograph is exquisite. Happy Monday (is that an oxymoron?). Thanks again for all you do. I hope your break from writing paranormal thrillers is exciting. I had to say that kind of tongue in cheek. Gosh you are prolific!

You are an ever-present reminder that Monday has rolled around again, my friend. You are certainly not the only one who feels that way about politics and political ads. I've never liked the ads, but it seems like as I age, the mud-slinging gets worse. Maybe that's just because I can't really shut it all out the way I could when I was little. Ignorance truly is bliss sometimes, though.

I've found that in writing, or just about anything for that matter, there are always exceptions to the rule. Not everyone appreciates a rule breaker, but when it works it works.

No more "heavy" novels, eh? So you're saying you can't be pigeon-holed? Good for you! I certainly wouldn't want to be. But I probably am, for the most part. LOL

So....buddy, ol' pal....I believe it's been a couple years since you issued a challenge, judging by the date on the one I did for your last challenge. Think you'll do another one any time soon?

Hello Bill - Technology has made thinks so much easier to make changes. That makes it necessary for all to learn we must push forward with new writing rather than keep looking back. It must be very nice to have two novels churning in your mind at the same time.

Signed: anonymous cauldron-stirring suspect

"I’m not sure any of us can really claim victory when there is so much nastiness surrounding and infiltrating us." - "An eye for an eye leaves everyone blind."

"I don’t know how it is in other countries" - Our last federal election was 11 weeks and that was long. Some people say too long. That's in Canada.

“After you have written and published a novel do you ever read it and think “damn I could have said that better” - We can always continue editing things. I try not to. It's a never-ending game with me, sometimes (editing pieces of writing - I like editing, I think lol).

"I'm now back to a little poetry; that's purely subjective and no one can tell me it's right or wrong!" - This made me laugh. Yes, nobody can tell You if it's right, or wrong. I for one, can;t even tell You what poetry is about. Haha!! I'm sorry, I'm a hard-headed creature when it comes to poetry. If You wrote Japanese I probably would understand better than poetry.

"ENOUGH IS ENOUGH with the murder and mayhem" - I'll tell You why I don't read stuff like that. I have no need to read about murder and mayhem when I can simply turn on the news. Enough is enough, indeed.

"Yes Mum" - I had a friend of mine watching a British show with me a few weeks ago and when a police officer called his supperior which was a lady "Mum", my friend asked me if the lady was the officer's mother. I had such a laugh!! : )

Fun piece of writing once again - thank You!

Have a joyful week!

Bill, I'm in the same boat as you; my gosh the vitriol and mud-slinging this year are disgusting. Don't tell me what "he" did wrong, tell me what you will do that is "right" and maybe I'll listen. Enough already!!

You know you've got me hooked on your new book. I hope your Muse is happy again (thanks for sharing).

My mailbox was like yours, echoing. I hope next week is better. Have a great week.

The political climate may be divisive but it’s more important than ever that people VOTE.