Category Archives: Nandy Ekle

Injecting Perfection

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POST CARDS FROM THE MUSE

Injecting Perfection

By Nandy Ekle

 

The twisted little body lies on the slab. So far that’s all it is, just a lifeless rag. I’ve put a suture here and there to string pieces together in an effort to make the body whole. There are a few loose ends, but those will heal once the life begins.

I have a whole ward of these lifeless little things. Some of them could be beautiful; some of them could be powerful. But all of them are mine. The only thing missing from each one is a beginning sentence.

These special little wads of bodies are ideas that I’ve had for stories. They pop in my head at random times, sometimes uncanny in their ability to find the most inappropriate moments to show up. I can be in the middle of a sentence during a conversation with a complete stranger when one of these ideas knocks on the door and says, “Guess what!” Or I can be deeply immersed in reading a work with strong hands that keep my attention, except for the split second when I hear, “Sort of like what happened to me.” Music brings them, pictures bring them, people walking down the street bring them. One time an idea spoke so loud I woke up from sleep in the middle of the night to listen.

I take the idea and lay it on a slab, gluing it down with my ink and a promise saying, “Don’t go anywhere, I’ll be right back,” and usually I do come back and fiddle with it a little more. Occasionally, though, they get tired of waiting on me and go on to find someone else with more time – but for the most part, they wait patiently.

So I look at this one particular idea and see the marks of where I have tried to find the right sequence of words to inject into its veins that will open its eyes. I see a lot of needle marks, but still the eyes have not opened. I do remember a flutter, though. This poor little waif is in two parts, and the second part is set. The first sentence of that scene caused the eyeballs underneath the lids to roll in a curious REM fashion, but they did not open. The first part is not there yet.

From all the words that exist in language today, there has got to be a combination that works to open these eyes. And so I will continue to look for the perfect fit, that special key that will give life to this story. Then I can move on to the next.

Congratulations. You have just received a post card from the muse.

The New Kid

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POST CARDS FROM THE MUSE

The New Kid

By Nandy Ekle

 

 

I can’t take it anymore. You just run around all over the place, never say anything meaningful to me, then ignore me when you are around. I’ve gotten some deeply cryptic messages from you that make absolutely no sense, and when I try to make sense out of it, you stir it up like mud at the bottom of a lake. I’m tired of your torture and abuse, then you disappear for a long break, as if you’ve worked tirelessly for a long time.

And because of all this, I’m firing you. That’s it, muse. You’re fired. Don’t bother coming back and collecting the meager ideas and words you’ve left laying around. I don’t want to see you or hear from you ever again. You can find another writer to taunt and ridicule.

The fact of the matter is I have a new muse. He’s always around whispering to me. He has some excellent ideas and he wants me to get busy writing them. He wants me to succeed. I’m sure this new guy will be more than happy to take me straight to the top.

When I look to him for ideas, he does not look at me as if I’m ridiculous for even trying. He doesn’t give me impossible riddles that make no sense. In fact, he sits on the corner of my desk with a sweet rose, and bids me to write the stories I’ve carried in my head forever. And he tells me I will never lack the words to put on paper.

So, meet my new muse, Horatio.

Untitled

Congratulations. You have just received a post card from the muse.

 

Eyes On the Prize

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POST CARDS FROM THE MUSE

Eyes On the Prize

By Nandy Ekle

 

Your main character is the most important person in the story. Your readers immediately love him for good reason. He’s just a normal guy try to better himself in some way. Basically, he’s exactly like the person who’s reading your story, and that’s why they love him so much.

He’s average, he needs food, shelter, and love. And he will do anything in the world to get those needs met. Every action he takes, every word he speaks lead toward this goal. And, since those are the basic needs of every person who has ever lived, your readers are involved from the first word.

Now, there is a nemesis who, for whatever reason, wants to keep one, two, or even all three of these needs from your main character. This nemesis could be another person, a government, a circumstance, a situation, or mother nature. He could even be against himself.

But our readers want our character’s needs to be met. Remember, the reader loves the person in our story and their heart will be broken if the story ends without so much as a slight struggle. And our character has a strong will to have those needs met, which makes him that much more lovable to our readers.

So we much have struggle. The character is willing to give up nearly anything to get those needs met. In fact, he has to go so far as to give up his life to attain his goal. And this is when he becomes a hero to the reader. Even he doesn’t actually every receive his prize, the fact that he makes the sacrifice to get within arms reach will make the reader love him even more.

Congratulations. You have just received a post card from the muse.

Fill In the Blank

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POST CARDS FROM THE MUSE

Fill In the Blank

By Nandy Ekle

 

Her first name is __________. Her hair is the color of __________ and her eyes look like __________. Her favorite hobby is __________. Her passion is __________, but more than anything in the world she wants __________, and she would be willing to give up __________ to get it.

His first name is __________. His hair is the color of __________ and his eyes look like __________. His favorite hobby is __________. His passion is __________, but more than anything in the world he wants __________, and he would be willing to give up __________ to get it.

One day they meet at __________ and they both know __________. They decide they should __________, each one thinking about that one thing they want so desperately. But when they begin to _________ they realize _________ all along. In the end they have __________ their goals to __________.

The End.

Congratulations. You have jus received a post card from the muse.

A Very Boring Life

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A Very Boring Life

By Nandy Ekle

There was a time when, as a younger woman with three brilliant and combative children, I was convinced my life was boring. I was a stay-at-home mom who literally stayed at home, except when I was driving kids to school, driving to the grocery store, picking up kids from school, and driving kids to appointments.

It seemed like nothing exciting ever happened. To and from the schools, groceries, doctors, library, vacuuming the floor, scrubbing the floor, washing clothes, cooking dinner, bathing kids, and then putting them to bed. Then I would get up late at night/early morning, fight zombies, spiders, and various other monsters that bothered my children at night. The same old day started at 6:00 the next morning.

Yes, I really thought I had a boring life.

Then I watched a movie about my life. The main character was a secret agent for the government and his wife, a plain, average woman just like me, had no idea what he actually did. He had her convinced he sold insurance. She felt like she had a very boring life. Then she had lunch with another man and her husband sees her. So he sets up a little adventure for her.

Anyway, watching this movie taught me some things about myself. In all my cleaning and driving and nurturing, it turns out I am one of the most adventurous women in the world. I realized that not only was I a chef and chauffeur, I was also a referee, a doctor/nurse, “office” manager, banker, bookkeeper, and so on. But that’s old news. Every stay-at-home mom realizes these titles eventually.

The other thing I discovered was that our family was prone to experiences that are, um, unique. Like the time a lizard tail fell out of the dryer. Or the time my dog started barking hysterically at 3:00 in the morning. And how could I ever forget the cars that stopped working while driving down the highway or stopped at a red light. Or the plumbing that backed up. The creative scheduling and emergency shopping for school.

Now, as a mature woman whose children have grown up and flown away, I remember those boring days and think about the tons of stories I lived through.

Congratulations. You have just received a post card from the muse.

 

 

 

 

 

The Mighty Thesaurus

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POST CARDS FROM THE MUSE

The Mighty Thesaurus

By Nandy Ekle

Writing a story can be a little like playing chess. You want to be descriptive, but still allow the reader to imagine their own pictures. And you want your words to fit your characters.

One thing that can happen, and I’m the queen of this, is getting hung up on the same word. It’s the perfect word to describe what you’re talking about, it fits your character, and it sounds just great. However, it can become distracting to the story to hear the same word over and over. The best way to test your work for an “echo” is to read your story out loud.

When I discover this happening in my writing, I go to a thesaurus—a book of synonyms. It’s sort of like a dictionary. You type in the word that continues to show up on your pages and it gives you a list of words that mean the same thing. And sometimes there are some very interesting words in that list. Especially when you’re sitting at the desk in your office during lunch hour and people are walking around your desk.

Congratulations. You have just received a post card from the muse.

 

 

 

Important Lesson

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POST CARDS FROM THE MUSE

Important Lesson

By Nandy Ekle

 

Writing courses. I’ve taken a few. Really and truly, I absolutely love writing courses. This girl begs for homework. Please, just give me an assignment, a work count limit, and a deadline. I guess that’s why I like prompts so much.

“Write a 50 word story it must be a formal gathering where a shocking announcement comes out.”

“Write a short story about a young man suffering from schizophrenia and he and his delusion are at war.”

“Start a story with this line: Looking back, he could not believe what had just happened.”

“Write a story in the form of a diary. Your main character, the diary writer, wakes up in a strange room with no idea how he/she got there.”

These are just a few I’ve used to help jumpstart myself when I get in a rut.

So now, I’m going to give you an assignment, and I really want to see your homework in the comments below. Ready?

Step 1:             Put your hands, palm side down, on the seat on which you sit.

Step 2:             Push yourself up to a standing position.

Step 3:             Walk across the room.

Step 4:             Raise your dominant hand and extend your pointer finger.

Step 5:             Take one or two steps forward.

Step 6:             Make contact with the on/off button on your television set.

Step 7:             Push that button.

Step 8:             Now listen to the silence that replaces the silliness of “the tube.”

Step 9:             Now, write what you hear.

 

Your characters don’t have to fight so hard for your attention without that blasted squawk box on.

And I write this with all the bravery in the world since I’m really aiming it toward myself.

Congratulations. You have just received a post card from the muse.

 

The Grail

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POST CARDS FROM THE MUSE

The Grail

By Nandy Ekle

 

 

I found it on line, filled out the order form and typed in my payment information. Then I sat back and waited. I didn’t have to wait long. It came in the mail this week; I was so excited and couldn’t wait to get home from work and open my package. And I was not disappointed.

Of course, it’s nothing more than a plain, simple coffee cup. It has the name of my favorite author printed around the cup and a print of his signature. That’s all it is. But to me, it might as well be the Holy Grail. It looks really cool in my hands, the coffee tastes better, and suddenly my words flow much better.

There is an old story about a child who wants to learn to do something, but they have no self-confidence. They are given some little trinket and told that it has magic powers and they are immediately able to do the thing they want to do and believe it’s because of the magical object they hold. Then, in the middle of a very intense moment, they lose their magical possession, but are able to continue what they’re doing.

The intelligent side of my brain knows this story and laughs at the creative side for believing it. But I guarantee that since receiving my new cup in the mail, I have been able to write again.

Sometimes we just have to do whatever it takes to get the words on the paper.

Congratulations. You have just received a post card from the muse.

 

The Wisdom of the Masters

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POST CARDS FROM THE MUSE

The Wisdom of the Masters

By Nandy Ekle

Quotationspage.com

  1. Space is big. You just won’t believe how vastly, hugely, mind-bogglingly big it is. I mean, you may think it’s a long way down the road to the chemist’s, but that’s just peanuts to space –Douglas Adams, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy
  1. You sort of start thinking anything’s possible if you’ve got enough nerve. –J.Rowling, Harry Potter and the Oder of the Phoenix
  1. That we see or seem is but a dream with a dream. –Edgar Allan Poe, Dream Within a Dream
  1. I like nonsense, it wakes up the brain cells. Fantasy is a necessary ingredient in living, It’s a way of looking at life through the wrong end of a telescope. Which is what I do, And that enables you to laugh at life’s realities. –Dr. Seuss
  1. There must be more to life than having everything. –Maurice Sendak
  1. Careful. We don’t want to learn from this. –Bill Watterson, Calvin and Hobbes
  1. Get your facts first, and then you can distort them as much as you please. –Mark Twain
  1. The wit makes fun of other person; the satirist makes fun of the world; the humorist makes fun of himself, but in so doing, he identifies himself with people—that is, people everywhere, not for the purpose of taking them apart, but simply revealing their true nature. –James Thurber
  1. The best time to plan a book is while you’re doing the dishes. –Agatha Christie
  1. A man who could build a church, as one may say, by squinting at a sheet of paper. –Charles Dickens

Congratulations. You have just received a post card from the muse.

Dear Apostrophe

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POST CARDS FROM THE MUSE

Dear Apostrophe

By Nandy Ekle

Time for another lesson in the world of language – sort of.

We know and understand the rules of the apostrophe. (1) denotes ownership (you’re), (2) indicates missing letters (don’t), (3) stresses dialect (goin’), or (4) indicates emphasis within a word (resume’).

This week I learned about a different kind of apostrophe (shout out to a high school English teacher friend of mine J ).

A literary apostrophe is when the speaker, or narrator, detaches from reality and addresses an imaginary character. This tool has been used as a poetic device to illustrate the nature of emotions. It also helps the reader develop a fresh, creative perspective.

One of the rules is that the object is usually not present with the speaker/narrator. A woman goes to work early in the morning. She sits at her desk and yawns. “Dear bed, I’m sorry we had to break up this morning. I’ll see you again this evening.”

Another example would be something like, “Oh, Friday, we look forward to you all week long, but you really are the hardest day of the week.”

You could even do something like this: “Okay, Muse. Zap me with words.”

Congratulations. You have just received a post card from the muse.