Outtakes 100

Uncle Max

By Cait Collins

Our cousin, Jack, sent out an email last Tuesday. Uncle Max had died in his sleep. He was 86 years old. I did not know my uncle well. My dad’s military service separated us from family for three to four years at a time. We missed many a family gathering. However, we know our cousins. They have stood by us in the hard times, and we wanted to be there for them. My sisters and I discussed attending the service when we go together for a birthday dinner that evening. Sis 4 could not get off, but the rest of us got the time. We left Amarillo at about 9 AM on Friday morning for the nearly five hour drive to Graham, Texas.

I got to know my uncle during the service and the brief visitation at the cemetery. I did not know he had served in the Army during World War II. He loved his country, but chose not to re-enlist because he believed he could better serve the nation by growing wheat for food and working the oil leases to provide energy. He was unfailingly loyal to his commitments. He missed family gatherings because he was working to provide for his family and to support his employer’s needs. He worked for the same company for 54 years. Uncle Max was the original environmentalist. He loved the land and respected its bounty. He taught hard-headed kids the things he had learned.

Yes, he was a hard man, but he loved his family and his extended family. When Uncle Scott died, Uncle Max stepped up to be a role model for my cousins, Scott and Jack. He came to my father’s funeral to offer his support to mother. Over the years, he would ask his wife about mom. If my aunt had not spoken with mom in a while, she would call to check on us. Uncle Max kept letters, cards, graduation announcements, wedding and birth announcements. His children became concerned he could not afford new clothes as he always wore the same grungy overalls. They sent him boxes of new overalls, white tee-shirts, socks and shoes. The care packages were found in a closet.

The more I thought about what I had heard, the more I realized I had met Uncle Max in many a book or short story. He’s that character who would greet an intruder with a loaded shot gun. But when the snow falls, he secretly clears a widow’s sidewalk and driveway. The sheriff does not need to ask for his help searching for a missing child. The curmudgeon is already beating the bushes. The town bully taunts a timid child to go knock on old man Hunter’s door. Although terrified of the consequences, the kid accepts the challenge. A hand reaches through the partially opened door and yanks the boy inside. The sheriff arrives in response to a kidnapping report and finds the child pulling weeds in the garden under Mr. Hunter’s supervision.

The shadowy person may not be a primary character in the work, but he does have a role in the development of the story. Information he provides the authorities may break the case. The protagonist rescues the hardened character. When he dies, his estate goes to the hero. Old man Hunter dies. His game-rich property is left to the county as a wild life preserve. Or what if this cagey character is killed in a gun battle? The investigation reveals he shielded drug runners. The plot lines are infinite when an “unknown” person is introduced. Thank you, Uncle Max. You just taught another hard-headed kid a valuable lesson.

Outtakes 97

Release 6-5-2013

Hail, Rain, Wind, and Twisters

By Cait Collins

Tuesday evening, May 28, 2013, I finished my blog and posted it. Shortly afterwards, I received a phone call from my company’s emergency employee notification system stating winds had downed power lines and knocked out windows at our Osage campus. Crews had restored power, but debris remained. We were to use extreme caution when driving to work on Wednesday.

Conditions worsened as the evening progressed. Tornado warnings were posted, and I ran across the apartment complex parking lot to shelter in with my sister and her upstairs neighbor. We settled the neighbor and her two children in the laundry room, and then Janet and I took refuge in her smaller bathroom. We spent the next hour or so huddled beneath pillows and blankets in the bathtub watching the radar on her SmartPhone. Sirens blared; storm spotters reported a tornado at 45th and Soncy moving east. It did not remain on the ground for an extended period. The storm system that entered the city’s west side turned north and east and moved into the downtown area. It weakened as it moved out of Amarillo. Shortly after midnight, the all clear was sounded, and we crawled out of our shelter.

Amarillo had survived, but not unscathed. Hail and high winds damaged property across the city. The Insurance Council of Texas estimated insured losses at about $400 million. No lives were lost and injuries were minor.

All of our television and radio news departments did a good job keeping citizens informed regarding conditions. No doubt the devastation in Moore, Oklahoma, created a sense of urgency and appropriate response to the warnings. I appreciate every broadcaster and spotter who manned a post. They did their jobs well. That said, I must admit it was the “Voice” at KGNC Radio that grounded me. Once we sheltered in, we could no longer hear the television reports. Janet’s radio kept cutting out, so I suggested KGNC. I think I recognized the voice behind the microphone, but I’m not 100% sure. He reported the weather conditions, the National Weather Service recommendations, and damage reports with just the right mix of urgency, concern, and humanity. His calm demeanor was what I needed during those tense moments. While I was frightened, I was not panicked. Instead I was reassured. I want to commend KGNC manager, Brice Edwards, and his staff for a job well done.

KGNC has been a friend to Panhandle Professional Writers for a number of years. They have welcomed us on their morning talk shows to promote conferences, writing contests, fund raisers, and special events. It was good to know they and their fellow broadcasters had our backs during the crisis.

Outtakes 96

My Way

By Cait Collins

I appreciate creativity. It propels the author to search for new ways to tell old stories. However, this does not mean anything goes when preparing a manuscript. There are rules and standard that should be followed if an author wants to be published. Some rules are genre specific and others are universal.

Whatever you write, grammar and punctuation rules must be followed. Youth writing competitions are designed to teach young people how to write. I have had teachers approach me and ask if we were serious about some of the rules. Surely we would not take off points for grammar and punctuation errors. After all, children are more informal in the way the write. Kids email and text, so the rules don’t apply. Would we really disqualify a work just because the young author refused to adhere to Times New Roman 12 point font and one inch margins all around? And what about the limitations on the number of pages for short stories and the number of lines for poems? How could the student’s choice to express creativity be grounds for disqualification? Then came the real kicker. “I told my students they didn’t have to follow these arbitrary rules.” Unfortunately for her students, many were disqualified.

The rules were set in accordance with industry standards and submission guidelines. In applying industry standards to the contest rules, we were attempting to teach the importance of following instructions. Failure to comply with the guidelines had consequences, Can you imagine reading a call for submissions and deciding the length, the subject matter, and the format were of no consequence? After all you are just expressing your creativity. Consider how many submissions editors receive. Do you honestly believe a busy editor will wade through submissions that flaunted the guidelines? Such works will no doubt wind up in the rejection pile.

Sadly, authors believe genre standards are non-existent. A young writer self-published and illustrated her children’s picture book. Her sales were not good and she didn’t know why. She asked me to read the story and give her some feedback. The pet was cute, grandma sweet and loving, but a book written for four and five year-olds centered on drug abuse and animal abuse. Additionally, there was no flow or continuity to the work and the illustrations were not to industry standards. It was also overpriced. When I attempted to explain both the good points and the problems, she became defensive. This was her story. Someone had to warn children about the evils in life. Her agent was too stupid and lazy to sell her book so she had no choice except to self-publish. My next quest was, “Did your agent point out problems with the manuscript?” Her response, “I told him I would not change anything. He didn’t even try to sell my book.” The real problem was her refusal to provide a work the agent could sell.

My way does not mean an author is permitted to be difficult in dealing with agents, editors, and critique groups. I’ve been in groups where a writer was told repeatedly by several members there were issues with the story. Week after week, chapter one was presented with minor changes and the major problems ignored. He could not understand why no one liked his protagonist. Just because the guy wasn’t macho, and aggressive didn’t mean he needed to change the characterization. Why didn’t women appreciate a man who would cater to her needs and do whatever necessary to make his love happy? Excuse me? A women’s fiction novel needs a strong male lead. His hero was a door mat and a pushover. He suggested we just didn’t understand his vision.  Or what about the lady who stated in her cover letter she would not sell to any publisher who required her characters to smoke, drink, or be involved in illicit sex. Needless to say, she had no offers.

Does this mean a writer has no personal options when writing his story? Of course there are opportunities to explore your creativity. The trick is to learn the rules, practice them, and then learn when and how to break them. Creativity is best expressed in good plotting, character development, and scene setting. Show your way in adherence to submission guidelines and respect for agents, editors, and fellow writers. Your efforts will be appreciated.

What’s In a Name?

By Cait Collins

Do you love your name? Does it fit your personality? My given name, Barbara, comes from the Latin meaning stranger or foreigner. Some books use the term barbarian. Stranger, maybe. I’m shy and tend to make friends slowly. However, barbarian indicates wild and untamed. Definitely not me. I am asked why I took Cait for a pen name. Simple. The name is Irish meaning pure. My mother’s family is Irish. The meaning of the name fits me. Pure in heart, pure mind, you get the idea. It’s me. So, did my parents make a mistake with my name? No. They liked Barbara Ann, it was popular in the 1950’s, and they chose it for me. I doubt they knew the meaning of Barbara. But even if they did know, it would not have changed their choice.

Prospective parents place great importance on selecting a name for the baby. They make lists, consider religious or cultural significances, think about inherited names, and popularity before selecting a name for their newborn. If moms and dads make name lists and whittle down the choices to find that perfect name, shouldn’t a writer put equal thought into naming his characters? After all, the author is like a parent giving life to the characters and the work.

Authors have varying methods for selecting a character’s name. Sometimes it just comes to you. For example, I have a character named Macon Georgia. That name had no rhyme or reason until an inebriated Macon explained. “My daddy didn’t have much imagination when it came to naming his children. I was born in Macon, Georgia. I have a baby brother named Mobile Alabama.” I also used Houston and Austin for brothers in an early novel. The heroine quipped, “Don’t tell me. You have another brother named Dallas.” “Actually,” Houston stated, “Dallas is my sister.” I don’t try to analyze name inspiration like this. If the character is shouting “I am…” who am I to argue? Sometimes the fictional entity just might know best.

More research may be required when writing a period piece. What names were common to the time period? Were there regional variations or spellings of the proposed name? Was the name used at the time in question? There are good books to help with name research. I use THE VERY BEST BABY NAME BOOK in the whole wide world by Bruce Lansky for some of my research. The book contains little known facts, stereotypes, positive and negative perceptions of names for both boys and girls, popular names for different countries, gender neutrals, and name selection worksheets. It defines the country of origin and the meaning. Unfortunately, the historical age is not provided. That’s where search engines come into play. Do not neglect this step. A name not associated with the times or the setting could destroy chances for publication.

Even minor characters need to be named. If he is known only as Joe’s friend, one could assume the person has no real value to the story. He’s just thrown in to fill space from point A to point B in the scene. Even if he makes only one appearance in the work, give some consideration in choosing the name. If he’s gentle, compassionate, and concerned, Luke might be a better choice than Bubba.

So what is in a name? The rose’s fragrance may be sweet, but if we call it gardenia, that’s a whole different scent. Names help define characteristics, explain why a character behaves in a certain way. A character might fail if he cannot live up to granddad’s name. Choosing names for characters is an important step in developing the story. A boy named Sue just might be the spice that flavors the novel.

Outtakes 93

Writing Loss

By Cait Collins

The protagonist in your current work is a successful cardiac surgeon. He is in route to a conference where he is to present a paper on a new surgical technique he developed. The pilot comes over the speaker announcing engine problems, and requesting the passengers comply with the instructions from the crew. As the cabin attendant is relaying the crash procedures, there is a sudden drop in altitude. The airplane crashes into a field. Your character survives, but suffers a head injury and damage to the optic nerves. He is blind.

Psychologists tell us there are five stages of grieving:  denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance.  Everyone responds to loss differently. There is no order or time limit for passing through the various stages. If the writer is not in his character’s head, if he hasn’t invested a part of himself into this individual, the story may fall flat.

Put yourself in the surgeon’s place. What do you imagine his reaction to the news will be? Or, maybe more important, what do you think your response would be? Consider all the possibilities. Will he be in denial, refusing to accept the diagnosis? Perhaps he will respond with rage and push everyone who cares for him from his life. What if he gets stuck in the grieving process? All these emotions and more are possible. But how do you write the story without losing the emotional impact? Permit yourself to access a similar experience. Recall your responses, the pain, the tears, and then write what you feel. Avoid clichés. Use word images. Vary the tempo of the prose. Since emotions are messy, it’s important to allow your character to experience every range of feelings. Don’t hold back and do not edit.

Writing for emotional impact is not easy. I have recently learned the best way for me to write feelings is to accept the mess and wade through the mire. While the writing has been difficult, it is freeing. There’s something rewarding in seeing the readers’ teary eyes, and hearing their choked voices. When you get this response, you know you did your job as a writer.

Outtakes 92

In the Beginning

By Cait Collins

Do you ever think about the first story you wrote? What kind of paper did you use? Did you have a pencil or a pen? Did you use a typewriter, a word processor, or a computer? What was the theme of the story? How many characters? Do you even remember your first story?

Sadly, I don’t remember the themes or characters in my first story. I do know it was written on a Big Chief tablet. In my early school years, we used those red covered pads for everything. Not only did we learn to form our letters on those pages, we did math problems in the same book. At first I used a fat, round jumbo pencil.

In time stories were written on notebook paper or in my single-subject spiral notebooks. Ink replaced pencils. But I had characters. I’d fallen for Illya Kuryakin, the Russian Man From U.N.C.L.E.  My pages were full of the love that had developed between Illya and his female co-agent. In retrospect, the stories were really bad. What did a 15-year old sheltered girl know about men and love? The truth is, nothing, but it was sure fun to imagine their first kiss. They met in a restaurant, ordered wine, and when they said good night, their lips met. Fireworks exploded. Ah, romance.

Life experiences, experimenting, and practice have given me the tools to write better stories. But there are days when I remember Big Chief tablets, fat pencils, and Dick, Jane, and Spot. Those were the days.