Category Archives: Nandy Ekle

The Bait

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The Bait

By Nandy Ekle

I am the daughter of a fisherman. My dad can catch anything that swims in the water. When I was a pre-teen, Daddy would plan family outings to the “barge”—a barn-type building that sits on the lake with big holes cut in the floor, rails around the holes, and chairs. We would sit in those chairs for hours with lines in the water, the line wrapped around our fingers, and books in our laps. He made his own homemade bait, and when that ran out, we would catch mayflies or other harmless bugs from the corners of the building to use as bait.

So, this is a blog about writing. Why am I talking about fishing? 

Our readers are like fish deep in the water and our job is to catch as many as possible. But you absolutely cannot catch a fish without bait. If you drop a line with a bare hook into the water, it will hang there until you reel it up and go home.

In the writing world, this is called “THE HOOK.” 

Another thing my dad would do is go out to the lake earlier in the week and drop a bucket full of “chum,” something to call his favorite kind of fish to the area so that when he showed up for the real action, the fish would be present looking for treats.

When you start a story, you need to feed the readers something to make them hungry for more. I’ve heard from successful writers to start your story the day something is different for your main character. For example, JK Rowling starts the entire Harry Potter series with a young orphan living with relatives who resent his presence. His life is not fun in the least. And what happens? He gets a letter delivered to him by an owl. In the world he grew up in, owls do not deliver mail. And even if they did, it wouldn’t be to him, a nobody. So the reader is immediately saying, “What?!” And they have to keep reading to find out why this little boy gets his first piece of mail ever, and it’s delivered by an owl. 

She fed the readers just enough to make them hungry for more.

 

Another Cliche Book Review

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Another Cliche Book Review

By Nandy Ekle

Time for me to join in the ocean of reviews for the Harry Potter series, books one through seven. Yes, I love them as much as every other person in the world. As a reader, I have enjoyed every word of the epic hero on his journey to save his world. Bravo, Ms. Rowling! 

As a reader, I followed this poor orphan from the time before he even knew he was special up to the moment when I closed the last book and the only words that crossed my mind were, “But of course! How could it have been anything different?” And I’ve loved the books so much that I re-read them all, in order, about every other year. And I never get tired of them.

As a reader.

As a writer, I have a completely different view. Oh, I still adore the stories, the words, and the tongue-in-cheek writing style. I love the world, and I love the emotions that develop when it all comes together in such a grandiose way. But as a writer, I see much more than a good story.

Character development. Each and every single character in all seven books has a distinct arc. Harry, Ron, Hermione, Neville, and Draco, and the other kids/young adults have what any reader would expect. Growing up, maturing, becoming adults. And Ms. Rowling captures the stages of growth perfectly. One of my friends says The Order of the Phoenix is her least favorite because the characters all so angry all the time. But since they are all 15 years old, it wouldn’t be as real if they weren’t angry.

But that’s a rabbit hole I’m not going through. The point is that even Dumbledore, McGonagall, Hagrid, Snape, Fudge, even Voldemort all have character arcs. In the first two books, Dumbledore seems a little distant, a little dodgy, maybe slightly off his rocker. He does show whisps of insight and wisdom, but this is something that doesn’t seem to actually come out until deeper into The Goblet of Fire. McGonagall, the stern, no-nonsense professor begins to show compassion and sympathy in The Order of the Phoenix. And I’ve always said I knew about Snape all along because of the energy Ms. Rowling used to make us hate him. There had to be a twist.

Consistency. Never have I read a series more consistent in voice, tone, world, and facts. I am in the middle of reading them all over again and as a writer I am picking up on things I missed the first couple of times I read them. One small item mentioned in the first book, then not again for two more books, suddenly appears in a later book and has become a cornerstone. And I can only ask how did Ms. Rowling do it? Amazing. Also, I’m discovering hints to the last pages of the last book in the first book that go completely undetected until BOOM! There it is.

Hooking her readers. Ms. Rowling is a master of this. The first words of each book are like glue. And the last line of each chapter causes gasps. And she has the incredible ability to retell parts of the story in a later book and it’s not an “info dump” at all. It’s perfect.

So, JK Rowling, your stories are destined to be considered as classics in the future. And I definitely look at them as learning tools for writers.

The Most Classic of the Classics

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The Most Classic of the Classics

By Nandy Ekle

I am a fan of horror. That’s not a secret to anyone. And there are so many great horror stories that are considered classics. Some I was assigned to read in school like Frankenstein and Jekyll and Hyde. I wanted more. So I made the decision to read Dracula, by Bram Stoker. 

And all I could say was WOW!

This story is written in the form of diary/journal entries and newspaper articles. Even though the book was written during an era of formal English, which makes some stories dry and hard to stick with, the language of this book was easy to digest. As a high school student with a normal attention span, I was completely captivated. I think I devoured the book in two days.

There have been hundreds of movies made based on the story. The legend of vampires goes back, probably to the beginning of time. And this was long before the romantic vampires with consciences who hate what they are. And I think we all know the basic Dracula story. 

Jonathan Harker travels to Transylvania to meet with the Count and discuss some property in England the Count has recently purchased. He leaves his fiancee behind with a typewriter and instructions to practice her typing. Mina, his fiancee, takes her typewriter to the country to visit her aristocratic friend, Lucy, who is being courted by three men. While Jonathan is abroad and Mina is visiting, a mysterious illness afflicts Lucy which causes her to lose blood at an alarming rate, and there seems to be no reason for her blood to disappear. Meanwhile, the count leaves Jonathan locked in the castle to feed his three vampire wives while he travels to England to view the property. Jonathan barely with his life and Mina is called to Transylvania to minister to him as he recovers. They are married and head back to England where they learn Lucy has died. Her three suitors bring in an expert to investigate the mysterious illness and the expert is convinced there is a vampire afoot. Soon Mina is also showing signs of the same illness. The group chases the count back to Transylvania where they finally kill him.

Really and truly, one of the best horror books I’ve ever read. As for versions of the movie, I love the one released in the 90s with Wynona Rider. They add a deep timeless romance to the plot which enhances the story extremely well.

If you get a chance, read Dracula by Bram Stoker.

 

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How to Write

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How to Write

By Nandy Ekle

On Writing, by Stephen King. In my opinion, the best instructional writing book out there. 

The first half of the book is a very honest sort of autobiography (which I think, as a happy “Constant Reader,” is very interesting). The second half of the book is lessons and tips. Since Mr. King is a high school English teacher, along with the fact of his enormous success as a writer, in my eyes, he is a penultimate writing teacher.

The biography half of the book gives us, the readers, an insight into his thought process. He starts with his earliest memories and goes through his experience after being hit by a car in 1999. Extremely interesting material for those of us with a deep love of words, a smattering of talent, and small income vs. daily expenses. According to the book, the King family was next to bankrupt when his first book, Carrie, hit the market. An extremely encouraging epistle.

The writing part of the book is equally helpful. This part gives some grammar advice, dialogue advice, description advice, and insight into what your reader might be thinking. He gives a scenario and a challenge to the readers of the book to write a story (set up by Mr. King himself) and send it to him for review. However, the version of the book I, myself, own is from the year 2000. 

This is why I recommend Stephen King’s On Writing, A Memoir of the Craft for anyone who wants to learn to write fictional stories.

Look Around

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Look Around

By Nandy Eke

Stephen King once said he is asked constantly where his ideas come from. His answer is he doesn’t know. He mentions “the guys in the basement,” which is his description of a muse. He says he plays a lot of “what if” games that lead to the stories.

I agree with this to some extent. I play the “what if” game myself, and I get some interesting answers. But the stories I’ve written that I like most are the ones I can tell you exactly when the idea gelled. 

Some of that has to do with what’s happening around me when the idea starts to grow. I’ve seen the moon look like a giant eye in the sky. I pass an old abandoned gas station every morning on my way to the day job, and there’s always a car or pick-up sitting in the old parking lot. I don’t know why it’s there. The person inside wears a big cowboy hat and is always alone. 

One morning I went to the office and saw a pair of ladies pumps sitting in the alley. The shoes were white fabric with big flowers printed all over them. They were standing next to my office driveway as if some lady had just stepped out of them. 

There’s a famous quote that says we pass 5,000 story ideas every day. An author will see 20 of them. Tell me in the comments below what story ideas you noticed today.

Congratulations. You have just received a postcard from the muse.

tag words: Stephen King, pump shoes, pick-up trucks, nandyekle.com, Nandy Ekle, wordsmithsix.com

Ideas From the Setting

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Ideas From the Setting

By Nandy Eke

 

 

Look closely at the picture. What story ideas do you see?

What about this picture?

 

Point of View

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Point of View

By Nandy Ekle

Point of view. The eyes your reader sees the story happen through. I always think of it, like, a video game back in the 90s. Watching my kids play these games and the giant camera sits on the head of the character the player is following. So everything that happens is through that character.

So you have your main character and that can be your point of view (POV). It can be first person through their mouth, or it can be third person, through their brain. And you can have each chapter be a different character’s point of view. Or you can have what’s called omniscient point of view, where the reader is privy to all thoughts of all characters.

And these days there’s a new term called deep point of view. This method is only in the main character’s point of view and voice. There are rules that go with this POV, and I’m not sure I even know them all. I haven’t put a lot of research into it. 

My opinion is this point of view is very tricky to accomplish. I’ve read several books using this method and, frankly, I get tired of it in a hurry. However, I’ve read a couple of books where this was used in such a way that the story was actually so engrossing that I couldn’t put the book down. The book You, by Caroline Kepnes is a perfect example of how to use this POV effectively. The story is definitely a psychological thriller. And the building of the plot is so subtle that when I realized what was happening, my breath was knocked completely out of my body. 

So, study the different types of POV and decide which one works best for your story. Then play it for all it’s worth.

What Choice

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What Choice

By Nandy Ekle

I have always had a healthy sense of humor. I got that from my dad. I also got a love of words and love of reading from my dad, and my mom. My dad’s favorite genre is science fiction, but he also loves the old scary movies. My mom loves murder mysteries, and she also loves the old scary movies.

It should come as no surprise that I grew up watching Rod Serling’s Outer Limits, Twilight Zone, and The Night Gallery. It also should not be a huge surprise that to this day, I am an avid fan of The Addams Family.

Therefore, it should not be any kind of surprise at all that I write all things dark. It doesn’t matter how my story starts. I could have the most romantic intentions of writing a beautiful love story—boy meets girl, they instantly love each other, they overcome the greatest odds ever, and their love continues to eternity. But what usually happens is boy meets girl, they instantly love each other, but he is a serial killer and she loves the taste of blood, and they die together in a huge feast of souls.

See, it can’t be helped. That is why I say I never chose my genre. My genre chose me. Somewhere the world of horror stories looked into my head and noticed my dark sense of humor, my fascination with monsters (except spiders, which even that horror can produce some pretty good stories if you’re focusing on emotion), my understanding of people and how the mind works, and my eternal people watching skills, and said there she is. That’s our girl.

And really and truly, I’m pretty lucky because this means the stories come easily to me. I don’t have to draw detailed outlines and storyboards, making the craft of writing more like a fill-in-the-blank. And that means my writing is pure-dee-ole fun.

Congratulations. You have just received a postcard from the muse.

The Scarlet Pimpernel

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The Scarlet Pimpernel

By Nandy Ekle

I am not normally a fan of romance stories, but if they include captivating characters in clever adventures, danger, intrigue, and fun little sword fight, I’m all in.

The Scarlet Pimpernel is a movie that is all that and more. It’s an older movie (I hesitate to use the word “old” as it dates me) that’s based on a book written by Baronnes Emmuska Orcszy. I have read the book, and, really and truly, this is one time I like the movie better. Anthony Andrews plays Sir Percy Blakeney, Jane Seymour plays Marguerite St. Just, and Ian McKellen plays Chauvelin. A brilliant cast.

The story is set in the French Revolution. Sir Percy is part of the British aristocracy, and has a lot of close friends in the French aristocracy, including King Louis and Queen Marie Antoinette. It’s not hidden from us that he plays a double role as the Scarlet Pimpernel in freeing as many French “Aristos” as he can. He and his band of friends are shallow-minded pompous aristocrats during the day, but plan daring and dangerous ploys by night.

When Sir Percy meets Marguerite, he falls instantly in love and woos her with lavish attention and gifts. However, she has a past with Chauvelin, who is a member of the Committee of Public Safety, and in charge of beheading the “aristos”. 

The story is presented with all the period costumes and landscapes, and ends with a fun little sword fight. Look for this movie and enjoy.

 

The Other Steve

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The Other Steve

By Nandy Ekle

I am a confirmed Constant Reader of Stephen King. I’ve read nearly everything he’s written. Even if the story is not fantastic, the world are. So I will alway be, in the words of one of his greatest villains, his “number one fan.”

But I’ve discovered the story-telling skill of another Steve. Today’s book review is of The Pleasure of My Company, by Steve Martin.

This is a truly charming story. No ghosts, no vampires, no werewolves. No bleeds, no one fights, and the only violent death that takes place happens before the stop begins, making the main character a murder suspect for five minutes.

No, this wonderful little book is a refreshing sweetness, like eating strawberry shortcake after having a piece of rare steak. The steak is good, but you gotta have something sweet to wash it down.

In Mr. Martin’s story, we have a main character who is the narrator. This man is incredibly brilliant, but also has a severe mental health disability. But the charm of this is that he knows this about himself. And knowing this about himself, he deals with it with humor. Good ole’ Steve Martin kind of humor. 

In dealing with his disability and the daydreams and adventures he has, he learns some things about the people around him, and the people he left behind. Then he learns the cause of his mental health disabilities.

Like I said, and charming and sweet story. It will make you laugh out loud, and it will make you cry with sympathy, then cheer with victory.

Read The Pleasure of My Company by Steve Martin. You’ll be glad you did.