Writers in the Storm

Susan Spann

Happy Holidays!

‘Tis the season to stay off the copyright “naughty list,” so I’m here to share a few #PubLaw tips for avoiding copyright infringement in your holiday blogging and social media celebrations!

When celebrating online this holiday season, keep these helpful rules in mind:

SONGS (AND LYRICS) ARE PROTECTED BY COPYRIGHT

At the holidays, it’s tempting to re-post the lyrics to favorite carols or celebratory songs, either on Facebook, on a blog, or on other social media sites. Unfortunately, lyric-sharing often violates the copyright of the lyricist or songwriter, because lyrics are protected by copyright, as are novels, short stories and poems.

Posting an excerpt (no more than 2-3 lines) is often permitted as “fair use,” especially when the quoted work runs at least 30 lines. However, there is no absolute test for fair use, and no definitive test for when you’ve used too much of a copyrighted work. The legal test is “facts and circumstances,” based on several factors (so anyone who tells you “X lines is ok, but more is not” isn’t telling you the absolute legal truth_.

If you want to share a favorite song, it’s better to quote a line or two and link to a website containing the lyrics, or to a YouTube video showing an authorized performance of the work.

RECIPES ARE NOT PROTECTED BY COPYRIGHT…EXCEPT WHEN THEY ARE.

Copyright exists to protect creative expressions, and does not protect “functional items.” To the extent a recipe consists of ingredient lists and basic steps to combine them in a way that results in a specific type of food, the recipe is merely functional–and not copyrightable. Any functional element of a recipe, including the ingredient list and the basic instructions, can’t be copyrighted—which means you can share the recipe at will.
(Note: For this purpose, a “functional item” is any part of the recipe that’s mandatory to create the food itself. For example, yeast in a risen bread.)
Courts have ruled that ingredient lists – even for unusual recipes – are merely a “statement of facts,” and  not copyrightable. Courts have also ruled that the factual parts of the recipe’s directions (the instructions themselves) are not copyrightable.

However, creative portions of recipes – meaning the way the instructions are given and any anecdotes, humorous add-ins, and “tips and hints” included with the recipe – may be copyrightable. In other words: you probably can’t just reproduce a creatively-worded recipe verbatim and call it your own. However, you probably can legally post a recipe in your own words, as long as you stick to the functional elements of the original recipe and make sure any hints, tips, and “bonus material” is your own.

Remember: when sharing recipes, ethics are also important. It may be “legal” to lift and reproduce someone else’s recipe without violating copyright, but it’s not very nice to take someone else’s recipe without attributing it to the creator. If you love a recipe someone else created, it’s better to share your experiences and photos, and attribute (and even link to the source) if you can. You could also share the ingredient list and “functional” directions, and then link to the source for tips and creative content. If there is no link to the recipe, go ahead and share it and simply mention the name of the cook or chef who created the recipe (if you know who claims it!). Cooks appreciate the attribution.

PHOTOGRAPHS – OF FOOD AS WELL AS EVERYTHING ELSE – ARE SUBJECT TO COPYRIGHT. GET PERMISSION BEFORE RE-POSTING IMAGES.

It’s tempting to copy not only a tasty recipe but also the lovely photographs that accompany it. Careful! ALL photographs are subject to copyright, and like the copyright on other creative works, it belongs to the creator—in this case, the photographer who created the image. Reposting or reproducing someone else’s photographs without permission is illegal, unless you have permission from the photographer or image owner. Don’t be Copyright Infringement Elf this winter. Take your own holiday pictures or get permission from the person who owns the photo.

Don’t forget: sometimes the most disastrous photos add the most to your blogging. Anyone can offer boutique cookie photos glittering with a perfectly-spaced assortment of frosting and sprinkles. It’s the “cookies-with-faces-for-radio,” Toddler-Decorated Cupcakes, and “Pumpkin_Pie_Bonfire_101” photos that give a holiday blog real seasonal cheer.

Happy Holidays from #PubLaw – and I’ll see you all next year!

Do you have other holiday copyright "gray areas"? Do these copyright laws surprise you?

 

Susan Spann writes the Shinobi Mysteries, featuring ninja detective Hiro Hattori and his Portuguese Jesuit sidekick, Father Mateo. Her debut novel, CLAWS OF THE CAT (Minotaur Books, 2013), was a Library Journal Mystery Debut of the Month. The second Shinobi Mystery, BLADE OF THE SAMURAI, released on July 15, 2014.

Susan is also a transactional attorney whose practice focuses on publishing law and business. When not writing or practicing law, she raises seahorses and rare corals in her marine aquarium.

You can find her online at her website, http://www.SusanSpann.com, and on Twitter (@SusanSpann).

 

 

Show of hands …
How many WITS readers exercise every day?
How many of you read every day?

Sir Richard Steele said, “Reading is to the mind what exercise is to the body.”

I think about exercising every day. But I can almost always find a promising excuse not to exercise—I need the time to work or I have to clean the toilets (wait, scrubbing counts as an upper body workout, doesn’t it?).

I do, however, read every day. BC (Before Child), I would read for hours during the weekends. These days I read before bed or in the tub (sorry for that bit of TMI) or on those rare weekend days when hubby and child are off doing boy things.

And I usually have several things going at the same time because, like exercise, there are different types of reading.

Reading to learn
Craft books, blogs, writing magazines. Every writer should have a library of craft books and a “bookmark” with favorite blogs.

Sadly, reading and exercise have one more thing in common—you don’t get stronger without doing it. Having that treadmill in the basement won’t get you fit (although I keep hoping). And having those pretty books with pristine spines won’t help either.

Read them. Take notes in them. Tab sections you know you’ll come back to. Reread them until they fall open automatically to those special sections.

At least your brain cells will be svelte. ;-)

Reading to keep up
If an agent you’re eyeballing to query is raving about a particular book, read it. It’ll give you great insight into what that agent likes.

What books are hitting the bestseller lists? Read them, and not just because everyone else is. What about those books stands them above similar books?

What books are your favorite authors recommending?

Reading for inspiration
Read authors you admire and take notes about what moves you, why something worked, phrases that made you sigh with longing for a smidgen of that talent.

If you’re an aspiring writer, read debut authors in your genre. Think about what made that book stand out to an agent and editor for it to be picked up.

And if you’ve started reading a book that you really are not enjoying, don’t shelve it yet. Read more. I know, I know … why waste your time reading something you don’t like? Because you can learn from these books as well. If you were that author’s critique partner or beta reader, what would your revision notes look like?

Reading for the sake of reading
A few weeks ago I was reading a blog post from Off the Shelf. The book being reviewed sounded interesting but it was the following quote by the reviewer that did me in: “I am constantly on the prowl for something that will distract me from the ‘task’ of reading and remind me of the joy of reading.”

Right? Remember those days?

Curl up with a beautifully written book. Don’t take notes and don’t analyze. Yes, I just told you to take notes and analyze. Go with me here. Read to read. Read for the love of words. Read to lose yourself. You can always go back, reread, and take notes.

I walk away from craft books and blog posts/articles with a determination to apply what I’ve learned. But it’s the books that make me forget everything around me that truly inspire me to get back to my own writing.

In On Writing, Stephen King wrote, “The real importance of reading is that it creates an ease and intimacy with the process of writing.”

If Stephen King says it, who are we to question it?
Now if he’d just write about the importance of exercising …

A question to WITS readers: Do you read while you’re in the middle of a WIP? If yes, what do you read—books in the same genre? Different genre? Craft books? Do you shy away from books that are similar to the project you’re working on?

About Orly

After years of pushing the creativity boundary in corporate communications, Orly decided it was time for a new challenge. Three women’s fiction manuscripts later (plus a handful of picture books), it’s safe to say she’s found her creative outlet. When she’s not talking to her imaginary friends, she’s reading or at least trying to ignore everyone around her long enough to finish “just one more paragraph.” Orly is the founding president of the Women’s Fiction Writers Association.

You can find her on Twitter at @OrlyKonigLopez or on her website, www.orlykoniglopez.com.

 Margie Lawson

How often do you get fresh…on the page?

Writers are beyond crazy busy getting their story on the page, developing goal-motivation-conflict, deepening characterization, sharing subtext with body language and dialogue cues, making choreography work, as well as covering the 3756 other dynamics they need to consider to make their writing strong.

Sometimes writers forget about writing fresh. Or they don’t include enough hits of fresh writing.

Fresh hits may be unexpected. But when they fit the POV character like Peter Pan’s shadow fit him, they’re yummy. Those twists of phrases, tweaks for humor, fresh visuals, and more, power the reader through your story. They make your book a page-turner.

Fresh hits may be humorous or serious. As long as they honor the emotional set of the POV character in that scene and don’t interrupt a stimulus-response, they’ll probably work.

Some fresh hits are super subtle. Others grab you and propel you through the passage.

Lean back and enjoy these examples of fresh writing.

 Season of Change, Melinda Curtis, Immersion-Grad

Example 1 -- Melinda Curtis could have written:

Slade tried to swallow, but his throat was too tight.

But she wrote this fresh piece:

          Shameful. The word spiraled up Slade’s windpipe, closing it off to vital functions like breathing and calls for help.

Wow. Fresh and powerful.

Example 2 -- Melinda Curtis could have written:

“They wore different outfits today.” He smiled.

Instead, she wrote:

“They wore different outfits today.” He used his papa-bear smile, the one that made her melt. The one that made her forget he was her boss.

Melinda used three amplifications to deepen character.

Example 3 -- Melinda Curtis could have written:

Slade’s stomach clenched.

She really wrote this version:

Slade’s stomach wound up tighter than a slugger protecting home plate.

Ah. An amplified simile. Smart writing. Perfect cadence.

 

The Pieces We Keep, Kristina McMorris, Margie-Grad

Example 1 – Kristina McMorris could have written:

The room went quiet.

You’ll be glad Kristina worked harder and wrote this line:

The quiet left behind was the type that followed a shove off a cliff.

Boom. That’s a powerful simile.

Example 2 – Kristina McMorris could have written just these three words:

Her chest cinched.

But Kristina added 16 more words:

Her chest cinched. An ancient grip squeezed out her air, the hand of a ghost reaching from the soil.

Out of context, it’s strong writing. In context, it’s uber-powerful.

Example 3 – Kristina McMorris could have been content with this cliché.

In her frenzied state, she’d follow him anywhere.

Kristina didn’t bore the reader by giving them something they’d read before. She treated them to this sentence:

In her frenzied state, he could lead her to hell and she wouldn’t think to object until waist deep in flames.

 

The Valquez Seduction, Melanie Milburne, USA Today Bestselling Author,

Margie-Grad

This time I’ll share a passage followed by a deep edit analysis.

Daisy had heard the expression ‘time stood still’ many times. She had even used it on occasion. She knew it wasn’t logically possible but this time it really did stop. She felt it. It was as if every clock in the nightclub, every clock on every smartphone, every watch on every wrist shuddered and then stopped.

Tick. Tock. Stop.

Belinda snapped her fingers in front of Daisy’s face. ‘Earth to Daze.’

‘Oh, my God.’ Kate nudged Daisy in the ribs. ‘He’s coming over!’

Daisy sat with her heart pounding like a piston in an engine long overdue for a service. Her skin felt tingly all over. She could even feel the backs of her knees fizzing like sherbet trickled into a glass of soda. She felt giddy. She had to grip the edge of the bar with one of her hands to stop from tumbling to the floor in an ungainly heap.

Deep Edit Analysis:

Rhetorical Devices:           

Amplification -- in first and fifth paragraphs.

Anaphora – every clock…, every clock…, every watch…

Simile – Twice – Like a piston…, Like sherbet…

White Space – Empowers the passage.

Multiple Visceral Responses:

• heart pounding, amplified simile

• tingly skin

• backs of knees, amplified simile

• giddy, amplified with a full sentence

Fresh Writing – Yes!

 

This Side of Salvation, Jeri Smith-Ready, Margie-Grad

You’ll find several hits of fresh writing in these back-to-back paragraphs, and a Deep Edit Analysis below.

I hear the wahp-wahp of sirens, see the blue-and-red flash of lights through my eyelids, and realize that I am dead. Not heaven-bound dead, cashing in on my undeserved eternal ecstasy. Dead as in, if I’ve missed curfew—and therefore the non-end of the world—my dad is going to kill me.

Here on Stephen Rice’s lawn, “busted” echoes in a dozen panicky voices. I sit up quickly as barely dressed juniors and seniors scurry past, tripping over scattered beach towels, pouring out the contents of their plastic cups. I pity the grass its imminent hangover.

Deep Edit Analysis:

Power Words: dead, heaven-bound dead, cashing in, undeserved eternal ecstasy, dead, missed curfew, non-end of the world, kill, busted, panicky, barely dressed, pity, hangover

Backloaded Words: dead, ecstasy, kill me, panicky voices, hangover

Rhetorical Devices:

Onomatopoeia: wahp-wahp

Amplification: The first paragraph is loaded with amplifications regarding how dead he’ll be, how much trouble he’ll be in with his dad, if he gets arrested.

Cadence: Perfect.

Humor Hits: multiple - - including missing the non-end of the world, and personification, the grass getting a hangover

Fresh Writing – Yes!

 

Sweet on You, Laura Drake, Margie-Grad, RITA Winner!

Example 1:

The arctic wind howled around the corner of the huge building, to blast her, snatching her breath, tearing her eyes. Her desert-thin blood raced through her in a hopeless, frantic attempt to keep warm. She whipped her head right, then left, thinking that a wrong choice would find her dead, flash-frozen, like Jack Nicholson in that Stephen King movie.

Deep Edit Analysis:

Power Words: arctic, howled, huge, blast, snatching, tearing, desert-thin, blood, raced, hopeless, frantic, attempt, warm, whipped, wrong, dead, flash-frozen, Jack Nicholson, Stephen King

Rhetorical Devices:

Asyndeton: First Sentence

Amplification: First Sentence

Simile: like Jack Nicholson in that Stephen King movie.

Allusion: Jack Nicholson, Stephen King

Cadence: Perfect

Example 2: Two paragraphs

She knew from experience that the worst thing for her was idleness. Memories and loneliness would wash over her, rolling her in churning emotions, leaving her unsure of the way to the surface. Days later, the undertow would release her, and she’d struggle back, weakened, covered in a salty film of guilt.

Why had Murphy died and she survived? The army chaplain told her it was God’s will. The army psychiatrist said it was chance. She knew what Grand would say. That she had an unfulfilled purpose.

Deep Edit Analysis:

Power Words: worst, idleness, memories, loneliness, emotions, unsure, surface, undertow, release, struggle, weakened, guilt, died, survived, chaplain, God’s will, psychiatrist, chance, Grand, unfulfilled purpose

Backloaded Words: idleness, surface, guilt, survived, God’s will, chance, unfulfilled purpose

Rhetorical Devices:

Asyndeton: Twice. Second and third sentences in the first paragraph.

Rhetorical question: First sentence, second paragraph.

Amplification: Both paragraphs.

Amplified Metaphor – First paragraph

Cadence: Perfect.

 

Wrapping Up:

Three words.

Fresh writing sells.

Trust me. Don’t settle for clichéd and overused phrases. Get fresh. Give your readers chocolate-mousse-on-the-tongue writing. Keep them turning pages, wanting more and more and more.

BLOG GUESTS: IT’S YOUR TURN!

 Click in and say Hi. Or want to share your fresh writing? Just one or two sentences.

 Say Hi, post an example, or post a comment, and you’ll be in the drawing to win an online course from Lawson Writer’s Academy!

 Check out the courses offered by Lawson Writer's Academy in January:

1. Screenwriting Strategies for Fiction Writers
2. 30 Days to a Stronger Novel 
3. From Blah to Beats: Giving Your Chapter a Pulse
4. Creating Reader's Guides for YA and MG Novels
5. Virtues, Vices, & Plots 

The drawing will be Tuesday, December 9, 8:00 PM Mountain Time.

All smiles................Margie

 Margie Lawson—editor, international presenter—teaches writers how to use her psychologically-based editing systems and deep editing techniques to create page turners. Margie has presented over ninety full day master classes for writers in the U.S., Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. She’s excited to share that Romance Writers of Australia is bringing her back to present at their conference next summer.

To learn about Lawson Writer’s Academy, Margie’s 4-day Immersion Master Classes (in Denver, Atlanta, Philadelphia, Dallas, Seattle, San Antonio, Columbus, Jacksonville, Houston, and on Whidbey Island), her full day Master Class presentations, on-line courses, lecture packets, and newsletter, please visit www.MargieLawson.com.