Tag Archives: Susan Santiago

Five Bizarre Medical Practices

. Chicago Fire Research . , , , , ,

From my research log: Five Bizarre Nineteenth Century Medical Practices*

19th century medicine

Does a child have a bloody nose? Try dropping a key down his back between his clothes and skin.  It should swiftly remedy the problem.  It does not, however, have the same effect on adults.

Got a cold? Dip some flannel in boiling water, sprinkle it with turpentine, and lay it on your chest.

Do not visit a sick person if you are sweating or hungry.  These both leave you more susceptible to contracting the illness.

For Concussions: Call for the surgeon who may apply leeches if the brain gets inflamed. Antibilious pills (strong laxatives) may be given to clear the liver and promote better blood circulation. If the patient is unable to keep food down, an injection of equal parts milk and whiskey can be injected into the rectum.

And lastly, for a drowning victim, rub the body dry, clear the mouth, raise the head, and place in a warm bath.  Tickle the nose with a feather or use smelling salts.  When the victim starts to come to, give him a little wine or brandy. And whatever you do, do not hang the victim upside down by his ankles.

*obvious no-duh statement: do not try these at home, or anywhere else for that matter!

Sources:

19th Century Historical Tidbits

Discovering Lewis and Clark

The Book of Household Management

Medical Home Remedies: As Treated by 19th and 20th Century Doctors

Jane Austen’s World

Twelve Days and Twelve Ways to Brainstorm that Novel

. Writer's Craft . , , , , , , , ,

countdown

NaNoWriMo starts in twelve short days.  Here are twelve ways to get ready to write that novel.

Keep in mind that even with elaborate planning, your novel will likely morph into a completely different beast than what you initially set out to write.  That’s ok.  Roll with it.

Day 1: Most novels are character driven.  Spend some time getting to know your main character (MC) better.  Take the Myers Briggs Test as your character.  This one is only four questions, so it is not the most thorough, but it is quick.  There are sixteen personality types based on those four questions. Find out what your character’s personality type is like.  This gives you a baseline perception of your MC.

Day 2: Create your character’s photo album. Include selfies, friends, home, school, places that are special.

Day 3: Write your main character’s diary.  Complete a few entries.  Try to find your character’s personality, likes, dislikes, what her friends are like, what she thinks and feels about things.  You could also complete a character questionnaire ( a lot available online, including the NaNoWriMo site), but the diary gets you writing, starts the flow, gets you thinking as your character.

Day 4: Setting: If you are writing in contemporary times in a place like where you live, than you have it easiest.  The further you deviate from the here and now, the more research you’re going to have to do.  Spend an hour researching your setting.  It won’t be much time.  Generate two lists: important info and questions I need to answer.  I keep my questions on index cards, hole punch them, and use a binder ring to keep them together.  But that’s just what I do.

Day 5: Setting: Pop culture – learn the music, books, and movies of the time.  Check out some of the books and movies from the library.  Make a playlist of the music your MC would listen to.  Surround yourself with things of the setting.

Day 6: The Antagonist: I wish I could remember where I once heard that the antagonist in your story, is the hero in his.  Head back to Myers Briggs and get to know your antagonist really well too.

Day 7: Write the scene where the MC and antagonist met.  This does not have to be used in your story, it could have happened before your story started.  If they do meet in your story, this will give you something to play with once November rolls around.

Day 8: Let the MC and antag write to each other – text, email, letters.  What are they going to say to each other? It will be interesting to see what comes out of the conversation.

Day 9: Conflict: The worst thing that can happen has to happen, and then the stakes have to be raised.  Try to come up with at least three ripple effects, what-if situations that is 5 layers deep.  Start with a small problem, how might your character handle it? What would happen next that raises the stakes? Repeat until there are at least five steps, making it harder and more uncomfortable for your MC.  You’ll learn more about your MC by putting her through conflict than from any character development chart.

Day 10: Research: It’s gotta be done.  You started a list of questions on day 4.  Find the answers to your key questions that must be answered before writing can commence.

Day 11: Cram day.  Hang out on the NaNoWriMo website.  Under the Inspiration tab, you’ll find NaNo prep.  A lot of good resources here.  Keep your brainstorming journal nearby.  Who knows what will pop in your mind.

Day 12: The most important day.  It is the day before life gets turned upside down.  And it is likely the day those movies you checked out from the library on day 5 are due.  Grab a loved one and watch one or two.  Then apologize to your loved one for what may occur over the next month.  Promise you will practice good hygiene and that you will try to visit this world as much as possible. Over the next month you will be living in the time and place you are creating and, though your ramblings may not always be coherent, they are writer’s code for “I love you!! Thank you for hanging in there with me through the worst draft.”

A good, long while

. Author Moments, Books in verse . , , , ,

Patience. Dear, sweet patience..

I dated my boyfriend for a good, long while before we got married.

We were married for a good, long while before we decided it was time to have children.

I waited a good, long while before my oldest was ready to potty train.

I researched my first novel for a good, long while before I dared to write.

I worked on my first novel for a good, long while before it was worthy of submissions.

Now I’m sitting tight a good, long while to find that agent or publisher.

The editor said, “You’ll hear back from us within six months.”

Keeping watch over that ever loving inbox.

Umpteen squared rejections later.

I still have patience.

NaNoWriMo – no, no not Nanu Nanu

. Announcements, Writer's Craft . , , , , ,

It’s lurking.  I can see it lingering over there.  Ready to pounce.  I’m tempted.  But I’m also scared!  Maybe I’m just crazy!!! It’s not a greeting from Mork from Ork, although it is kinda insane, it’s NaNoWriMo! (For Millenials and younger catch the nanu nanu reference here.)

NaNoWriMo

NaNoWriMo starts in two and a half weeks and I might just be out of my mind enough to do it this year.

What is NaNoWriMo?

National Novel Writing Month! The challenge is to write a novel from beginning to finish in one month’s time.  While you could do this challenge any month (I would chose October over February!), the official NaNoWriMo is November.  Yes, I hear you saying, “There’s so much going on in November with Thanksgiving and Christmas at its heels.”  I know!  That’s why it calls for a healthy portion of insanity to do this.

So Why do this?

Writing a novel is intimidating.  Period!  When I wrote my first novel I got stuck after completing the first act with rewrite after rewrite.  The best thing that happened to me was signing up for a conference in which I had to submit the LAST twenty pages.  There’s nothing like a deadline!  I know that awful feeling of having a story to write, but petrified to start. There is also the “I don’t have the time to write” excuse.  Clear your schedule for one month.  It’s just one month.  After 30 days of writing you will have a completed novel. Publishable? Highly unlikely.  But draft one is done. And done it time to take the next month off to let the story marinate while you hang the mistletoe and deck the halls.

I may be crazy enough to give this a whirl, so how do I do this?

The goal that NaNoWriMo sets forth is to write a fifty thousand novel.  Depending on your story this may not be enough, so you may have to adjust your daily word goal.  Take your word goal and divide by 29 because let’s face it, who’s going to write while in a turkey coma?

35,000 (a middle grade novel) = 1,206 words per day (wpd)

50,000 (NaNoWriMo goal) = 1,724 wpd

75,000 (YA novel) = 2,586 wpd

160,000 (the next Harry Potter – average length) = 5,517 wpd (yikes!)

Besides word count, what else should you keep in mind?

  • Spend these next two weeks planning.  Research settings, history, foods.  Get to know your characters.  Especially your MC and antagonist.  Consider story lines. Are you the outlining type? Do that now.
  • Also over these next two weeks, surround yourself with things of the genre you want to write.  Does that mean wearing 18th century garb?  Hey, if it helps you get into the mind of your story about Ben Franklin (yes, I mean you!) then I say go for it.  It’s October after all.  Halloween is not that far away, you can get away with it!
  • Once November starts, write fast and furiously.  Somedays those 1,724 words will fly out of your fingers.  Other days you will bang your head against the keyboard and hope something miraculous occurs.
  • Acknowledge that it may be crap.  In fact, it probably will.  You won’t really know your story, what your characters are made of, until you start writing it and putting them in impossible situations.
  • DO NOT REWRITE!  In fact, avoid rereading!  Just read the paragraph or sentence you left off with.
  • Tune into this blog.  I’m going to be in the trenches with you.

Who’s in?

Are you a NaNoWriMo veteran?  Leave a tip in the comment box.

For more tips, check out these pages:

Brown Girl Dreaming Review

. Books I am glad were written, Books in verse . , , , , , , , , , , ,

Brown Girl Dreaming is the autobiographical memoir of Jacqueline Woodson’s childhood.  It has racked up an astounding four awards!!! National Book Award, Coretta Scott King Award, Newbery Honor Book, and Robert F. Sibert Informational Book Award.  Not too shabby! This review, unfortunately, does put a few smudges on all those beautiful accolades.

brown-girl-dreaming

Written in verse, we travel with Jackie from her early childhood in Columbus, Ohio, to live with her grandparents in the Nicholtown neighborhood in Greenville, South Carolina, to her final home in Brooklyn, New York.  Young Jacqueline is keenly aware that she is unlike others in her family and searches for the thing that fits her just right.

What children will like about it:

This is a story that young girls will be drawn to.  They will identify with Jackie as she struggles with knowing her place in her family and overcoming the challenges she faced with reading.  Though the book is thick, there is a lot of white space on the pages making it friendly to reluctant readers. Jackie also faces very difficult events in her life that children will either relate to from their own histories, or draw closer to Jackie as they sympathize with her. The historical backdrop is a character in itself.  While set against intense civil right battles, the personal perspective was a safe distance from some of the pivotal events, but the reader sits on edge knowing that something could happen.  The young reader will feel anger, sadness, satisfaction, worry, pride, and strength while turning these pages.

Through a writer’s eyes

The language was a cozy blanket on a rainy day.  Vivid word pictures, deep emotion, tight and succinct, only wordy on purpose and on occasion.  The house in Nicholtown felt like home to me and I melted into Grandma Georgiana’s kitchen. Daddy’s song as he sauntered home and his breath being squeezed away by emphysema, or the like, made him the most concrete character to me.  It made me want to be a child sitting on the porch with him, listening to him sing.

The story is subtle.  Jackie’s journey as she finds her way through her struggle as a reader to grow into a writer is very relatable.  However, the story took a back seat to the poetry.  Keeping in mind this is a memoir, the plot was not thick with turns and twists, but it was deeply personal.  The voice sounds like an adult remembering her youth, which is what it is, but it would be stronger if it sounded like a young girl.  This is tricky when writing in verse.  Poetry is inherently more mature, to turn the voice youthful is challenging.

Nonetheless, I was mesmerized by this story and glad it was one that was written.  I will leave you with one of my favorite parts of the book, it comes from the poem “The Ghosts of the Nelsonville House.”

Look closely. There I am

in the furrow of Jack’s brow,

in the slyness of Alicia’s smile,

in the bend of Grace’s hand . . .

There I am . . .

Beginning

Visit Ms. Woodson here to learn more about her.

Taking a Tip from Forrester

. Pearls Along the Path . , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Finding_forrester

Didn’t you love it when your teacher said, “Tonight for homework I would like for you to watch on tv . . .” but then hoped the next words weren’t, “The State of the Union Address?”  Well, if you are looking for a little kick start to your writing, I encourage you to watch a movie that inspires you to write.  Some of my favorites are Finding Forrester, Stranger than Fiction, and You’ve Got Mail.

Though I haven’t watched it in a bit, I am finding myself taking advice from William Forrester, played by Sean Connery, to his young prodigy. . . .

A few years back I read Inside Out and Back Again. (my post about it)  That did it!  I was hooked on stories in verse.  I ached to write one myself, but was knee deep in the Chicago Fire at the time.  I knew it couldn’t be any ol’ story that I chose to write in verse.  It took a long time to come up with the right idea.  And now that I have it, I’M REALLY STUCK!

I’m so intimidated to follow in the steps of Thanhha Lai, Jaqueline Woodson, Karen Hess, Katherine Applegate, Alexander Kwame to name a few of the seriously polished and amazing writers who have fashioned beautiful treasure boxes of powerful language in as few as ten words on a page!  Seriously?  My word pictures lack color and clarity.  I am wordy, not succinct.  I go wide, not deep.  I am in WAY OVER MY HEAD!

books in verse

Which brings me back to Finding Forrester.  William Forrester, an acclaimed author turned hermit, offers this piece of advice to his charge, and to us.  (Paraphrased or altered by my memory). . . Starting is the worst part.  If you don’t know where to start, borrow someone else’s words and before you know it, they will turn into yours.  (No duh side bar: Keep in mind, however, the high school student did get into great trouble for plagiarism when he entered his essay into a competition.  I, nor William Forrester, are encouraging you to take someone else’s words and claim them for your own.)

With this in mind, I am studying some of my favorite novels in verse and recording bits that stand out to me.  Writing the rhythm, feeling the strength of the words, getting a sense of siphoning a scene down to its bare truth.  As I immerse myself into Jacqueline’s Brooklyn, Billie Jo’s dust covered world, Kek’s first taste of America, Ha’s trip on the ship, and Filthy McNasty’s court time, I am slowly feeling my story churning, bits of it jumping into mind and immediately onto my journal.  Line by line and moment by moment this new story will come.

What inspires you to write?

What helps you get started?

Hello Dear Blog,

. Author Moments . ,

WIN_20150924_140726

Thank you, dear blog, for waiting for me through an injured child, an ailing parent, friends in need, with a tornado on top.  It’s okay, dear blog, there were good times too. A just-what-we-needed family vacation, a wedding of a young girl who grew up in a blink, summer days with stories and swimming, and a sweet four-legged baby too.  So, dear blog, let’s get writing again.  Autumn is poking its nose around the corner.  It’s a great time for writing.  You and me and a cup of joe.

You Know You May Be a Writer If . . .

. Author Moments, Writer's Craft . , , , , , , ,

You know you may be a writer if . . .

Love my journals!

Love my journals!

  • you have an uncontrollable obsession with journals and writing utensils.
  • a trip to the library is a highlight of your week.
  • you are reading at least three books at the moment.  One is to research a topic that intrigues you.  One is in the genre you can see yourself writing.  One is just for you.
  • when a loved one asks you to watch TV, you agree because it’s important to spend time with living, breathing loved ones, and not just the darlings that are sitting on your nightstand tugging at your heart.
  • on your nightstand you keep a journal, writing utensil, and flashlight.  Great ideas that must be written down come before the sun.
  • you get caught reading over someone’s shoulder.
  • you know how some people get hangry? That’s how you feel when you haven’t had a chance to write in a few days.
  • you edit your text messages
  • your loved ones know that you are not hangry and send you off to write (because they are tired of your brooding).
  • you keep an inspiration journal close by.
  • you frequent thesaurus.com
  • you love to listen to others speak, waiting for interesting phrasing.  And then you hurry to that inspiration notebook to record it.
  • you keep a dictaphone in your car.
  • you secretly contemplate how to portray your middle school nemesis in a future story.  Haha! The written word lingers forever!
  • you never feel lonely if you have a book or journal with you.
  • you run late in the morning because you had to write down one idea, but that idea grows and you need to see where it takes you and you have to keep writing despite the ticking clock.  Then you rush through your shower because the idea percolated with the falling water and you hurry to that journal once more, dripping droplets on it (because ideas come best when its inconvenient.)
  • cutting your word count by 5% is as satisfying as getting a haircut.
  • you’ve been wondering if you are a author-in-waiting, but doubt yourself.

Doubt no more.  Get playing with words!

Dag Nab It!

. Announcements, Author Spotlight . , , , , ,

It was bound to happen.  And it has.  Lauren Tarshis has come out with a new I SURVIVED story, and it’s the one I secretly hoped she would not want to write.  So, of course she did.

i survived book

Grrrr.  I’ve already ordered mine.  And I know it will be wonderful as all of her books are.  Sigh. Learn more about Lauren Tarshis here while I lament over my dramatic and action-filled Chicago Fire story (that is BACKDRAFT meets PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS) with the makings of a classic that is still sitting in my computer waiting to find the right publisher.

On the upside, she wrote her story because her readers asked for it.  Therefore, there are kids out there who are interested in the Great Chicago Fire (and I can’t blame them!).  AND  . . . My story is skewed to a slightly older audience, of fifth and sixth graders.  This means the third and fourth graders who loved I SURVIVED THE GREAT CHICAGO FIRE OF 1871 will have a great story to look forward to when they get a year or two older.

Well, that’s my upside and I’m sticking to it.  No lingering discouragement allowed on the path to becoming a published author!

Keep playing with words and keep your chin up when the inbox is not bringing you the news you’ve been waiting for!

The wine . . . the ambiance . . . the notepad

. Writer's Craft . , , ,

Though I’m sure I take after my mother in many ways, I’ll only admit to one.  I love to explore new territory and I’m not afraid to do it by myself.  This is something that I will attribute to my always-on-the-go mom.

In mid-October 2010 I accompanied my husband on a business trip to Quebec City.  While he busied his days with scheduled meetings, I stepped back in time within the walls of Old Quebec City (where they speak french and I think it is too lovely of a language to try to imitate publicly).

Streets of Old Quebec

Streets of Old Quebec

Around lunch time I picked a small restaurant that sat on a narrow cobblestoned street that was too narrow for motor vehicles, but perfect for the throngs of footing-it tourists.

The restaurant where it all started.

The restaurant where it all started.

Though there was a slight chill in the air I opted to sit outside where I could overlook the small park decorated in pumpkins and fall colors.  And so I could people watch.  I was on vacation so I treated myself to french onion soup and red wine.  Wine for lunch!

The view from my table.

The view from my table.

In the park, an older couple played folk french music.

Listening to French folk music.

Listening to French folk music.

Was it the wine?  The ambiance?  The foreign land where I was discovering a new side to myself?  Whatever it was, I pulled a notepad from my purse and began writing.

They were most likely the most awful words ever scribbled down, but they were my beginning.  Old Quebec City will forever be my most favorite place to write and I hope to make it back there again.