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Writer-Person Digs Deep

October 3, 2008 by in category Archives tagged as , ,

by Cait London

We all have life-lint, memories/incidents/visual scenes that attach to us while we travel through our lives. Bits of our lives remain quietly attached to the writer, waiting to be tapped and used in a unique story.

Question: Are there really unique stories?
Answer: While certain underlying elements can be common, each writer’s style and life experiences create a unique story. Repeat: We are each unique with our own stories.

IMHO, the best stories are built from scratch, from digging around within our collection of life experiences. To start from a pre-made story line (i.e. Secret Baby) is not digging deep, not exploring the who/what/why layers, though the final story may fall within that pre-made category. For instance, in developing my psychic triplet trilogy, (FOR HER EYES ONLY* is an Oct 2008 release) I basically understood how a mother relates to her daughters, and how those daughters relate to each other (well, not in the psychic sense J). Or as Kathleen Eagle says, “I’m selling them off in pieces.”

Sponge-like, the writer absorbs everything around him. My best story lines came while sitting in waiting rooms. Or traveling. The feel of the story locations came from actually visiting Montana, Lake Michigan, and Lexington, KY, the psychic triplets’ homes. Since I am basically artistic (a trait common to many writers), the handbags, sculptures, and jewelry designs were fun to fictionally create. I love Celtic jewelry and an ancient brooch is spotlighted in the psychic triplets’ story arc. Runes and Vikings have long intrigued me, as have psychic-seer elements. In short, much of Me is chocked within my novels.

Our own life experiences can be fictionalized. Just for fun, let’s bump them up, taking them to another dimension. Here’s mine (these can make a fun bio):
Landscape Designer (I’ve planted a few roses in my day.)
Interior Decorator (I’ve painted walls, shoved furniture around.)
CEO (I run my household.)
Technical Engineer (I can use a television remote.)
Chef (Pots and pans manager.)
Lighting Engineer (I change light bulbs.)
Director of Security (I lock the house doors.)
Director of Finances (I pay bills and budget.)

While that’s fun, it’s also a serious examination. When you actually make a list of what you do throughout the day, it’s quite long and filled with great story-fodder. Tap into yourself. Use You.


Cait London’s OCC writer series began last month. Visit CaitLondon.com for more on craft. FOR HER EYES ONLY, the conclusion of her psychic trilogy is an October 2008 release.
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Ignorance IS bliss

September 28, 2008 by in category Archives

By Laura Drake

Many writers I know began writing at an early age. They’ll tell you about a story they wrote about their dog in the third grade. I’m not one of them. I came into writing “butt first”(as I’ve found I do a lot of things in life.) I’ve always been an avid reader, but have only begun writing in the last few years. It’s given me a different perspective on the whole experience.

When I started writing my first novel (no short story practice for me, I jumped into the deep end – something else I’m known for) I’d never read a book on craft – plot, characterization, POV, or any of the millions of details you need to know. Funny though – because I’ve read so much, I knew a lot of this inherently, but didn’t know that I knew it. I was following rules that I wasn’t even aware of, because I know what works in a good story, and what doesn’t.

My method has been a negative in several ways:

Trust me – the “blind squirrel finds an acorn” is not the fastest way to write a novel. I started on page one with only a vague idea of where I was headed with the plot. Working my way through was like being in a pipe clogged with mud…I’d move forward a bit, then have to wait for everything to settle before I could move again.

And don’t even get me started on editing! Luckily I’m a good speller, but I could only edit with the rules I knew; I kept discovering new ones as I went along, and would have to start over – like fifteen times! Can you imagine, not knowing rules for POV? What “telling” is? Passive voice? Looking back, I laugh (as I’m sure I’ll laugh at my current writing in a few years.)

But this perspective has also been good in several ways:

I was too ignorant to be afraid.
I also didn’t know how long the road I’d started on was going to be.
Or how much editing lie ahead.
How many rejections
Since I didn’t know how to go about writing a novel, I had no expectations…of my writing or myself.

I guess ignorance can be bliss, because I have never felt so fulfilled or proud as when I typed the last word.

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A Fantasy Life

September 28, 2008 by in category A Fantasy Life by Janet Cornelow tagged as ,

by Janet Quinn Cornelow

Yesterday I went to plot group and we were discussing where ideas for stories come from. I mentioned that Rayna in “Revenge of the Lady’s Guard” had been sitting on that porch with the old lady for four or five years waiting for me to write her story. I always thought it was a western historical. I knew she wasn’t a contemporary character. Then Whiskey Creek Press started their Whiskey Shots short stories. Rayna was yelling from the porch, “That’s me. That’s me.” And it was her. She was a warrior taking care of an aging Ancient One ready to die.

So where do these characters come from? They invade our minds, disrupt our sleep and complain to us while we are writing. They have minds of their own and don’t always do what we want them to do. They stand up and say, “Are you nuts? I would never do that.” Or, they get snippy and refuse to talk at all. Carter, in The Lucky Lady, tried to tell me his life history while I was driving down the 5 freeway. I told him to shut up and he wouldn’t talk to me for weeks.

Since I really like writing fantasy, my thoughts went in that direction. Maybe they are real people who live in another dimension and they are channeling their lives to us across the breaks between the dimensions. On the other side, maybe we are channeling our lives to them across the same breaks. Of course, I would have to feel sorry for the person who channeled my story. My life is so boring.

Okay, I am plotting a book where the hero ends up in another dimension. I really like the idea of telling stories about people from a different plain. Then, we all do write fantasy of a sort and maybe are just a bit more fanciful than the rest of humanity.

On a real note, I have receive three 5 reviews on Betrayals, my first romantic suspense novel. That made me very happy. Coffee Time Romance normally gives me a three.

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Today and Tomorrow

September 25, 2008 by in category Archives tagged as

by Lori Pyne

Today started with emails by the hundreds. Most demanded action, attention and accuracy.

Incessant ringing phones constantly interrupted. Any call a potential crisis. Humor defused one client. Results delighted another.

Brain clipped along faster, smoother. Adrenaline hit the bloodstream. No second could be wasted. New work piled atop unfinished projects.
Weekend’s relaxation long forgotten.

Urgency filled the air. Tension stalked the halls. Perfection expected. Mistakes abhorred. Focus on priorities. Efficiency a must.

Stomach churned. Headache squeezed. Meds taken. Next task tackled.

End of day deadlines loomed. Urgent packages dispatched. Promised answers posted.

Much completed. Desk filled yet more work to finish tomorrow.

Race home to spend precious moments reviewing homework, supervising teeth brushing, and cuddling for a bedtime story or three.

After dinner with hubby, steal time from bill paying, house projects, and volunteer obligations to try to pry story from brain.

Once again, midnight has long past. Time for bed with the knowledge that tomorrow will be much the same.

How was your day? What do you think tomorrow will bring?

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Do you have a teenager?

September 24, 2008 by in category Archives tagged as , ,

This may be a tricky issue, as some children may view parental advice with suspicion, but I’ve just experienced a major hand-shaking event with various friend’s children & friends of theirs.

I feel compelled to alert parents: in addition to the drug, alcohol and sex conversation, you need to tell/show/explain to your child how to shake some one’s hand. Yes, I experienced a lot of ‘dead fish,’ ‘limp noodle,’ ‘wet dishrag’ and ‘consumptive squeezes.’

I wondered if anyone had explained to them what a handshake was supposed to be–not that all adults are free of the aforementioned problem, but this seemed excessive, perhaps indicating cluelessness.

I don’t want to go all Dale Carnegie on you, but he has a point. A handshake is a big first impression, and surely it’s not too hard to offer a firm grip, a brief squeeze and release. You can even throw in eye contact for extra credit.

Maybe it’s an issue of a child/young adult not feeling confident, but I don’t care–act it, at least. Surprisingly, confidence will come and people will give you the benefit of the doubt for starters.

Reach out and touch someone…properly.

Unsolicited advice from Isabel Swift

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