I came to love reading in the second grade of elementary school. The Nun provided us with a copy of My Weekly Reader and worked with us to read and understand the stories. It awoke a desire to read more. With encouragement, I read almost every book in the small school library before I graduated eighth grade.

They selected me for a Great Books reading program the summer between graduation and my freshman year. By then, I was an avid reader.The only book from the program I remember was Moby Dick.

I loved the Foundation trilogy by Asimov and carried the “One Ring” to the mountain in Mordor (Lord of the Rings by Tolkien). Soon E. E. Smith’s Lensman series hooked me on science fiction and fantasy.  Many nights, I stayed awake reading Agatha Christie’s stories of the exploits of Hercule Poirot and Mrs. Marple.

I enjoyed non-fiction stories of the Revolutionary and The Civil War. I rode the Shenandoah Valley with Stonewall Jackson, spent three days at Gettysburg, and crossed the Delaware River with George Washington. I survived Pearl Harbor, watched the HMS Hood sunk by the Bismarck, and joined the British in getting revenge by sinking the “Terror of the Seas.”

My eyes misted as I read the story of the USS Indianapolis. The ship that carried the materials for the atomic bombs to Leyte. The Japanese torpedoed the ship after it sailed from Guam, with hundreds of men thrown into the sea. For days, the men fought sharks, thirst, and the sea. Some 900 men went into the water, but the Navy rescued only 389 four days later. I reviewed the book here.

In closing, my love to read is as active as ever. I read a new book through the Kindle Unlimited program several times a month. Also, my Kindle has a library of fantasy, mystery, historical, and technical books totaling over 650 selections. I add a book or two a month. Thank you to my second-grade nun for allowing me the chance to develop my love to read.

First novel

I was sixty-six when I began the draft of Saving Delisanna. Hours and hours of research went into learning details about mythology. Online tools created a world map to fit my vision of the story. Character and location names selected. After mulling the storyline for some time, months, I began. Two years later, I typed “The End” to the story. I couldn’t have been more proud of the effort, though the result pained me to read.

I revised the story’s beginning and submitted it to a critique group. Three critiques came back. I read them one time and put away until my ego recovered. My ego is better, and the draft novel lives on behind closed doors.

Another novel after NANO

The November before retirement, I took the NANOWRIMO challenge. Meeting the challenge gave me Kiliane’s Rage or Kiliane’s Revenge, depending on which day of the week it is. (Titles subject to change as the work progresses.)

Editing is not a fun time when compared to building a world or writing about the inhabitants. The story migrates, characters are born or die, the world suffers, and so does the author suffer (me!)

Many articles, books, and blogs address how to edit. Do this, don’t do that, etc. I read a blog on Janice Hardy’s Fiction University website about tell versus show words. A reference to Sol Stein was in the text. Amazon provided me a copy of Stein On Writing: A Master Editor of Some of the Most Successful Writers of Our Century Shares His Craft Techniques and Strategies.

Particularity

There wasn’t much new to me in the first several chapters. I gained a new perspective when I reached the section on editing. Here I found suggestions that seemed to contradict other articles. After a careful rereading, I surmised it did not contradict but reinforced.

Telling is bad. Showing permits the reader to immerse him/herself into the story. Yet, one cannot avoid telling else the story becomes unwieldy. One need not watch a character rise from bed, detail abulations, dress, cook and eat breakfast, walk to the car, start and drive to the office, etc. Perhaps, some of these things become important, e.g., he fights with the wife over breakfast. Telling allows the author to get the character to the office in a few words, keeping the reader’s attention without distracting by mundane details.

Saving adverbs and adjectives

Mr. Stein introduced the term “particularity.” It is used to bring the scene to life. It can include adjectives and adverbs to make the scene. He gave an example of a person seeking a new apartment. He said the author could have said: “it was a huge apartment.” Instead, the author showed through adjectives and adverbs the fourteen-foot high ceilings, the stone steps, the echo of their voices. The point being to be judicious in paring descriptive words from your work.

Halfway through my rewrite and I am encouraged not to pair every adverb or adjective. Thanks, Sol!

It is the author who must decide how to make the words tell his story. That includes what words to cut and what to let remain. My bane until this WIP is ready for publishing.

I would love hearing your thoughts on “particularity.”

Many years ago, forgotten is the name of the book I read regarding the sinking of the USS Indianapolis. Not forgotten is the image of nearly 900 men going into the water. Thu and their fight for survival. Some severely injured, but all fought against the sea, hunger, thirst, and sharks. They pulled 316 from the sea alive.

I saw a book on the cruiser, USS Indianapolis (CV-35), at a relative’s house in Ohio. Interest in this ship’s story revived, I made a mental note to find the book and read it again. I didn’t locate it but found one I highly recommend to everyone.

Indianapolis-the book

Indianpolis by Lynn Vincent and Sara Vladic is a detailed account of events leading to the USS Indianapolis (CV-35) sinking and the fight to exonerate Captain Charles McVay III.

The authors fuel interest in the ship by providing some of its histories before the sinking. It was Admiral Spruance’s flagship for several major battles in the Pacific. They follow it through its damage in battle requiring withdraw for repair.

Little Boy

It returned to service in time for selection as the ship to deliver the components of the first atomic bomb to Tinian. The happenstance for the cruiser’s selection presaged with detailed information regarding the effort to create the bomb, the decision to use it, and preparations to bring it to the war theater.

Delivery of the bomb parts successful, the Indianapolis was transiting to Leyte from Guam. A Japanese submarine in the path of the Indianapolis shot six torpedoes, of which two struck the cruiser with fatal results. Within minutes, the captain called for the crew to abandon ship.

I-58

The authors recount the actions that meant the submarine wasn’t there by luck. The military determined to fight to the last, and the I-58 (IJN) was to use human guided torpedoes to sink enemy ships. It was obeying this mission when encountering the Indianapolis.

Captain McVay was court martialed, not for losing the ship but for failure to zigzag. Survivors and others considered his conviction to be a cover up. Covering for persons who knew of submarines in the area of Indianapolis transit and did not tell Captain McVay. Persons who did not track the cruiser, resulting in the men being in the shark infested waters for five days. Failure in procedures at many levels. Through efforts of survivors for over fifty years, they exonerated Captain McVay.

Providence

The men’s sighting was providence (IMO). The airplane being where it was, the failure of the weight on the long wire antenna twice, the men looking through the window in the floor at just the right time, are beyond coincidence.

Lynn Vincent and Sara Vladic bring the alive through the stories of the men who sailed on and loved the USS Indianapolis. The details provided by the men who survived gave life to the ship, to the fury of its sinking, to the fight for survival until after five days, only 316 men of nearly 900 who went into the sea pulled from it. Then their fight to clear their captain.

But, they make the story whole with facts from other interviews, from Navy records, and from the research of others. The authors provide extensive documentation of the resources used for this book.

This is an engaging read. One I highly recommend.

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