Outtakes 120

To the Extreme

by Cait Collins

I have a lot of respect for my doctor, but I hate taking medications. Medicines and I often do not get along. So whenever the doc suggests a course of treatment, I start researching a holistic approach. I visited one of our local health food stores recently to gather information to discuss with my doctor. I’d had dealings with the folks in this store in the past, so I was really surprised when I encountered the Health Food Maniac.

“I can help you but you have to be willing to change your diet.”

“What do you mean by change my diet?”

She handed me a sheet of paper. Both sides were covered with lists of food to avoid. There was a small section of approved foods. No more junk food, which meant anything she considered unfit for human consumption. The list continued. Soft drinks, chewing gum, cookies, throat lozenges, milk, processed cheese, breath mints, oranges, grapefruit, soup, pasta, white flour, white rice, margarine, corn, and Cool Whip were banned substances.

While I was recovering from the shock of fasting for the remainder of my days, she began she began a campaign of it’s your fault. “So you work 80 hours a week. You don’t have time to cook healthy food.”  “It’s your choice, but if you want to get better…” “You’ll need to take this.” She began to place boxes and bottles on the counter.

I tried to make sense of this nonsense. Where was the sweet, compassionate gentleman I worked with before? I picked up the sheet and left the store. Wow, what a witch. I don’t respond well to the “my way or the highway” mentality.

My disgust turned to an idea. The health food nut would make a great character in a novel. I saw so many possibilities. She is so obsessed with her causes she alienates her family and friends. Or she gets careless in her pursuit of her desires and destroys the lives of her neighbors. Or she could be the comic relief character.

Extreme characters can be fun.  They can be annoying or terrifying. But they are interesting and they are remembered. Think about some of the way-out folks you’ve met and how their obsessive traits can be written to add sizzle to a story? The people we encounter on a daily basis can be a fantastic tool in our writing arsenals. Do some people watching, write mini character sketches. Keep a file of these wacky folks and use them judiciously. There’s really something special about extreme characters.

Outtakes 169

My Sister’s Critique

By Cait Collins

I received a package from my older sister today. She returned the manuscript I asked her to read. I realize a family member is not always objective when reading our work, but my sisters have no problems telling me a piece is not up to standard. In fact I can count on them to put me in my place. My older sister has reviewed other manuscripts and has always provided valuable critiques.

Sis did not want to mark up the manuscript, so she sent eight hand-written pages of errors she’d found. Her notes cited page number, paragraph, and the sentence. The corrections ranged from misspellings, to missed punctuation, to tense issues. I proof read the manuscript three times before sending it and would have sworn I’d caught everything. It’s amazing what a fresh pair of eyes can see. Her changes are easy to make and will help polish the work.

Since she is reading the book cover-to-cover instead of one chapter at a time, she is in a better position to see inconsistencies in tense, setting, and descriptions. My sister helps prevent a character having blue eyes in chapter one and brown eyes in chapter six.

As much as I appreciate her catching the grammar and punctuation problems, I value her take on the memoir. When she told me she could see our dad holding my hand and walking the ship’s deck, I wanted to cry. She was with me in the last chapter when I again, in dreams, return to Maine. But when she told me the memoir made her think, I realized my recollections were more than revisiting the past. Maybe my story could help someone else struggling to journey from heartache to contentment. Her encouragement will compel me continue to submit First Love; Forever Love to agents and editors. Thanks, Sis. You helped me more than you know.

Outtakes 168

High-five’s and Hugs

By Cait Collins

Sometimes adults forget just how little it takes to make a kid feel like he’s worth a million bucks. Young people thrive on a little attention, mixed with encouragement, discipline, and appreciation. This was made apparent to me a couple of weeks ago when my congregation hosted the area-wide teen jam.

The jam is a monthly event with the congregations in the Texas Panhandle taking turns providing a meal, fellowship, and a youth-centered evening service. The ladies prepared a simple meal of Mexican Pile On and dessert. We were still cooking taco meat when 85-95 kids and their sponsors began filling their plates. As we were beginning the clean-up, a young man and his friends came up to me and asked if I had helped cook the meal.

“I did.”

“Give me a high-five. That was really good.”

His buddy hugged me. “Thanks for doing this for us. We really appreciate it.”

Other teens joined in expressing their appreciation to the all the ladies. The hugs and high-five’s and all the smiles made the two hours of standing over a hot stove, cooking taco meat seem like five minutes. Their joy was worth the efforts of our team.

I am not suggesting that writers should take on mentoring a group of 90 teens who want to be writers. But what about one young person? Would it be that difficult to read one person’s work, show him or her the good things in the story and tactfully show the weaknesses? What kind of impact could we have if each writer mentored a young lady or gentleman?

Think about the adults who listened to you, who gave a bit of their time to encourage your dreams. How did you feel when you were told how well you had done on your book report or history paper? Maybe the wow moment came from a short story or poem you wrote for English class. I remember the top of the world feeling. Do you?

There are young people out there who would appreciate an adult just telling them dreams can come true. Sure you have to work for it, but it can happen. Maybe we won’t make millions by helping a kid, but I kind of think we’d feel like a million from all those high-fives and hugs.

Outtakes 166

Not My Job

By Cait Collins

I’ve always believed one should be open to all career options. No job should be considered too small or insignificant to tackle. But there is one job that will never be on my career bucket list. I cannot imagine becoming a concession stand worker.

Every Friday my company allows us to snack on fresh popped popcorn. This means we have to pop the corn. I don’t eat the stuff, but that does not mean I get a pass when it is my team’s turn for popcorn duty. It’s not that I mind taking a turn; it’s just that people can be really nasty to those of us making and serving the treat. I’ve been hassled with lines like, “It’s too salty.”

Or “You should have started earlier. There’s too long a line.”

“I’ve been waiting for thirty minutes for one bag of pop corn.”

“You made it too dry.”

“Needs more butter.”

Not only do you have to deal with complaints, there’s the actual work. You see there’s a recipe for making popcorn in one of those movie-theater style machines. Do not, under penalty of a riot, vary the recipe. And don’t forget the routine. Pour oil in first, add popcorn, listen for the three-second lag between pops, dump the popper, and serve. The gallon jugs of oil are heavy. Sore muscles are a guarantee. But the best part is smelling like pop corn all day. After two hours, I was ready for a Dr. Pepper break, but we must clean up the mess. If I really had this job, I’d walk out the first day.

So what does this have to do with writing? What if your character is a shy, bullied teenager? What if on his first night on the job, a group of jocks walk up to the concession stand and begin hassling the teen? The kid smiles as he draws a coke for the football captain. The big man on campus accepts the drink and walks off without paying. The bullied teen…

Now finish the scene.

Outtakes 165

Marketing Does Not Have to Cost an Arm and a Leg

by Cait Collins

So the book is completed. You have it sold, but the publisher isn’t kicking in a ton of bucks for publicity and marketing. Don’t panic. There are good deals and good ideas out there. A huge budget is not absolutely necessary to promote your book. Check out these ideas.

Post cards, brochures, and business cards are readily available at your local Office Depot. I rely on the team at the store in Amarillo, Texas. The staff is well trained and able to help me make good decisions on my promotional materials. Recently, they printed post cards made from a couple of my photographs. They are really nice and well represent my current work. Two scenes, 50 cards each cost approximately $22.00. They saved the set up on my flash drive to make reprints easier. They also offer mailing and shipping services. Since the store is open later than the Post Office, UPS, or FedEx, they are able to assist you with your shipping needs on your time tale. Kinkos, Office Max, and most large office supply stores offer good quality printing services.

VistaPrint, an on-line print service company, also offers promotional materials at very reasonable prices. Many of my writer friends rely on this company for quality products.

Takeaways are nice for book signings and writers’ meetings. One friend gives out small tote bags. When fellow Wordsmith Six author Natalie Bright, made her first Chicken Soup sale, she provided small cups of Goldfish crackers to promote her story. I’ve seen small boxes of chocolates, ball point pens, and note pads. I even met a wine salesman who would use my book cover and name on a wine label. The wine is a bit more pricy, but a great idea for the folks who helped you along the way. Little gifts keep your name in front of the book buyer. Even after they have read the book, they will remember clever marketing and keep an eye out for your next publication.

Web presence is necessary. You may not have a website, but a Face Book author page will give you exposure. Twitter and Linkedin are other good vehicles.

With the popularity of EBooks, book signings may not be the big draw they once were. That said readers like to meet authors. They want to know about the process and why we write. You may not sell cases of books, but the exposure is priceless.

Seize the opportunity to speak at conferences, and schools.

Most of these ideas have little or no cost. The real expenditure is your time. You must decide how much of yourself you are willing to give toward your success. You are your best promotional item. The items covered here are suggestions. They are clever, but unless the writer is willing to step up and sell himself, sales may be lackluster.

Outtakes 164

End of Season

By Cait Collins

I checked my calendar this morning and was again hit by the passage of time. The year of 2014 is speeding away. With September just a few days away, it’s time to review my goals and see how much or how little I have accomplished toward my writing career. I’m further along than I thought, but not a far as I had hoped.

I have completed my short memoir First Love Forever Love. It will be mailed to my beta readers this week. The cover shot has been chosen and a marketing plan in progress. But first, I have to sell it. Therefore, I have a list of agents and publishers to contact. Now the real work begins.

Work on the final edits of How Do You Like Me Now continue. I was told the book would not sell as a novella; so make it a novel. It’s much more difficult to add to a work than to subtract. I added too much, now I have to cut. I hope to have the novel ready for the beta readers early in 2015.

There are unfinished items on my list. I do not have my website set up, nor have I created an author page on Face Book. My blogs have not been moved to OneNote. And I still need to get in my study and clean out boxes and files. But there are still four months left in the year. I, we, still have time to work on those goals. The purpose of goals is to help organize and focus on our writing careers. We may not accomplish everything, but steps taken get us to being published. With that in mind, stay focused and write.